TY - JOUR AB - The effective Q-factor of the cantilever is one of the most important figures-of-merit for a non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) operated in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). We provide a comprehensive discussion of all effects influencing the Q-factor and compare measured Q-factors to results from simulations based on the dimensions of the cantilevers. We introduce a methodology to investigate in detail how the effective Q-factor depends on the fixation technique of the cantilever. Fixation loss is identified as a most important contribution in addition to the hitherto discussed effects and we describe a strategy for avoiding fixation loss and obtaining high effective Q-factors in the force microscope. We demonstrate for room temperature operation, that an optimum fixation yields an effective Q-factor for the NC-AFM measurement in UHV that is equal to the intrinsic value of the cantilever. DA - 2010 DO - 10.1088/0957-0233/21/12/125501 KW - cantilever KW - Q-factor KW - mounting loss KW - force microscopy KW - NC-AFM LA - eng IS - 12 PY - 2010 SN - 0957-0233 T2 - Measurement Science and Technology TI - Achieving high effective Q-factors in ultra-high vacuum dynamic force microscopy UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0070-pub-29138275 Y2 - 2024-12-25T19:41:17 ER -