SILICON NITRIDE PROBES
AppNano offers two series of silicon nitride cantilevered probes:
- Hydra series- a hybrid probe with nitride cantilever and a silicon tip and
- Nitra series- features both the cantilever and tip made up of silicon nitride
HYDRA SERIES:
- HYDRA probes are the world’s first true hybrid probes- low stress silicon nitride cantilevers integrated with sharp single crystal silicon tips
- Silicon tip is integrated on a silicon pad for increased laser reflectivity without metal coating
- This unique design ensures stable imaging in liquid without thermal drift
- Available in rectangular (R) or triangular (V) shaped cantilevers of different lengths and thickness to enable various modes of AFM in both air/liquid media
- Ideal for imaging soft biological samples in their aqueous environment
- Silicon tips can be made hydrophobic or hydrophilic for functionalization studies
- Tip can be made conductive by backside metal coating for electrical measurements
HYDRA-2R-50N: | For Contact /Spectroscopy/ Tapping™ applications in liquid |
HYDRA-2R-100N: | Ideally suited for Contact mode in liquid |
HYDRA-6R-100N: | For Tapping mode in liquid/air |
HYDRA-6R-200N: | For Contact mode/Spectroscopy applications in liquid |

Cantilever Specs. * | 2R-50N | 2R-100N | 6R-100N | 6R-200N |
---|---|---|---|---|
k (N/m) | 0.084 | 0.011 | 0.284 | 0.035 |
f (kHz) | 77 | 21 | 66 | 17 |
Length (μm) | 50 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
Width (μm) | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
Thickness (µm) | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Coating (reflex side) |
|
Tip specs. * | 2R-50N/2R-100N/ 6R-100N/6R-200N |
---|---|
Material | Silicon |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Height (μm) | 4-6 |
ROC (nm) | <10 |
Options | Tipless |
Special option | Au coating |
HYDRA V- SHAPED CANTILEVERS:
- V shaped cantilevers are more stable to torsional or lateral forces that makes them ideal probes for imaging samples with high adhesive forces, deep trenches and contact mode imaging in general.
HYDRA-4V-100N: | Contact/Tapping/Spectroscopy in liquid/air |
HYDRA-6V-100N: | Tapping mode applications in liquid/air |
HYDRA-6V-100W: | Tapping mode applications in liquid/air |
HYDRA-6V-200N: | Contact mode/Spectroscopy in liquid |
HYDRA-6V-200W: | Contact mode/Spectroscopy in liquid |

Cantilever Specs. * | 4V-100N | 6V-100N | 6V-100W | 6V-200N | 6V-200W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
k (N/m) | 0.088 | 0.292 | 0.405 | 0.045 | 0.081 |
f (kHz) | 42 | 66 | 67 | 17 | 17 |
Length (μm) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
Width (μm) | 18 | 18 | 25 | 22 | 40 |
Thickness (µm) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
Coating (reflex side) |
|
Tip specs. * | 4V-100N/6V-100N/ 6V-100W/6V-200N/6V-200W |
---|---|
Material | Silicon |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Height (μm) | 4-6 |
ROC (nm) | <10 |
Options | Tipless (TL) |
Special option | Au coating (GG) |
HYDRA-ALL:
- 4-in-1 probe chip with cantilevers with different stiffness and resonance frequencies for different modes of AFM applications.

Cantilever | k (N/m) | f (kHz) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | 0.292 | 66 | 100 | 18 |
B | 0.045 | 17 | 200 | 22 |
C | 0.405 | 67 | 100 | 25 |
D | 0.081 | 17 | 20 | 40 |
Coating | Au/Uncoated (reflex side) |
Tip specifications | |
---|---|
Material | Si |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Height (μm) | 4-6 |
ROC (nm) | <10 |
Coating | Uncoated |
Special option | Tip with larger radius Au coating (GG) |
VSCAN AIR:
- V-shaped silicon nitride cantilevered probe with sharp silicon tip designed for SCAN-ASYST mode. The reflex side is coated with Aluminum for enhanced reflectivity.
Cantilever Specs. * | |
---|---|
k (N/m) | 0.292 |
f (kHz) | 66 |
Length (μm) | 100 |
Width (μm) | 18 |
Coating (reflex side) | Al |
Tip specs. * | |
---|---|
ROC (nm) | <10 |
Height (μm) | 4-6 |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Coating | Uncoated |
Special option | Tip with larger radius |
NITRA SERIES:
- Nitra probes feature low stress silicon nitride cantilever and silicon nitride tip
- We offer two types of NITRA probes (i) NITRA-TALL and (ii) NITRA-ALL probes
NITRA-TALL:
NITRA-TALL is our NEW series of nitra probes for imaging tall biological specimens without tip sidewall artifacts
- Low stress silicon nitride cantilever and tip
- Tip integrated on a Silicon pad- for high SUM signal without metal coating- for stable imaging
- Tall tip with high aspect ratio and tip ROC 30 nm - ideal for imaging soft bio samples
- Available in rectangular (R) and V shaped cantilevers with different lengths and thickness for contact mode applications in liquid/air

Tip specs. * | |
---|---|
Material | Silicon nitride |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Height (μm) | 14-16 |
ROC (nm) | >30 |
Coating | None |
Included Angle | 15° |
Special option | Au coating (GG) |
R Cantilever specs. * | A | B | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
k (N/m) | 0.1 | 0.02 | ||
f (kHz) | 20 | 8 | ||
Length (µm) | 130 | 230 | ||
Width (µm) | 35 | 35 | ||
Thickness (µm) | 0.55 | 0.55 | ||
Coating (reflex side) | Au/Uncoated |
V Cantilever specs. * | A | B | C | D |
---|---|---|---|---|
k (N/m) | 0.16 | 0.03 | 0.24 | 0.06 |
f (kHz) | 26 | 10 | 30 | 11 |
Length (µm) | 105 | 205 | 105 | 205 |
Width each leg (µm) | 15 | 20 | 22 | 40 |
Thickness (µm) | 0.55 | 0.55 | 0.55 | 0.55 |
Coating (reflex side) | Au/Uncoated |
NITRA-ALL:
is a 4-in-1 probe chip with four silicon nitride probes of varying spring constants. The cantilever and tip are monolithic silicon nitride material. The probe is designed to work with soft biological samples in a variety of applications in liquid/air.
Cantilever | k (N/m) | f (kHz) | Length (µm) | Width (µm) |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | 0.292 | 50 | 100 | 18 |
B | 0.045 | 15 | 200 | 22 |
C | 0.405 | 53 | 100 | 25 |
D | 0.081 | 16 | 200 | 40 |
Coating | Au (reflex side) | |||
Material | Silicon nitride |
Tip specs. * | |
---|---|
Material | Silicon nitride |
Shape | Tetrahedral |
Height (μm) | 10 |
ROC (nm) | <30 |
Coating | None |
Special option | Au coating |
About
AppNano develops, manufactures, and supplies various nanostructures including both conventional and specialized SPM probes for most applications. We leverage our extensive experience in nanofabrication technology and.... Read More
Tapping™ and Peakforce Tapping™ are Registered Trademarks of Bruker Corp.
Company Information
Applied NanoStructures , Inc.
415 Clyde Ave. Suite 102
Mountain View, CA 94043