====== AFM Tip Change ======

It takes practice. Please practice with an old tip that no one cares about.

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Only loosen the middle screw. Do not take out the screw completely (it is easy to loose). Be gentle with the screw. It is a standard right-handed screw (clockwise will tighten). Don't over tighten. It should be just tight enough so the tip doesn't fall out. When loosening/tightening, make sure the Phillips screw driver is fully seated in the head of the screw to avoid striping the head.

The two images below show a tip that is pushed too far underneath the clamp, and a tip that isn't pushed far enough under the clamp. In these configurations, it took a drive amplitude of > 300 mV to get the tip to oscillate with 1 V amplitude. Moreover, the oscillation amplitude drifted by > 10% over a 10-minute time scale. 

{{::tip_far_in.jpeg?500|}} {{:tip_far_out.jpeg?500|}} 

The image below shows a top-down view of a tip that is mounted correctly. It's a little crooked, but it still works fine. When this cantilever was tuned, the drive amplitude was less than 100 mV and the oscillation amplitude remained stable over the 10-minute time scale.

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The image below shows a side-on view of a tip that is mounted correctly. The purple line (aligned with the tip) is parallel with the blue line (aligned with glass window). 

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