S. Gao, Z. K. Zhang, Y. Wu and K. Herrman, “Development of a Multifunctional Microelectromechanical NanoForce Actuator for Calibration of the Spring Constant of an AFM Cantilever,” Proceedings of the 9th Euspen International Conference, San Sebastian, 2-5 July 2009, pp. 267-270.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Towards Quantitative Characterisation of the Small Force Transducer Used in Nanoindentation Instruments

  AUTHORS: Zhi Li, Uwe Brand

  KEYWORDS: Nanometrology; Nanoindentation Instrument; Nano-Force Transducer; Microelectromechanical Systems; Nano-Force Calibration

  JOURNAL NAME: Modern Instrumentation, Vol.2 No.4, September 30, 2013

  ABSTRACT: Quantitative characterization of the mechanical properties of materials in micro-/nano-scale using depth-sensing indentation technique demands high performance of nanoindentation instruments in use. In this paper, the efforts to calibrate the capacitive force transducer of a commercial nanoindentation instrument are presented, where the quasi-static characteristic of the force transducer has been calibrated by a precise compensation balance with a resolution of ~1 nN. To investigate the dynamic response of the transducer, an electrostatic MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) based on nano-force transfer standard with nano-Newton (10-9 Newton) resolution and a bandwidth up to 6 kHz have been employed. Preliminary experimental results indicate that 1) the force transducer under calibration has a probing force uncertainty less than 300 nN (1σ) in the calibration range of 1 mN; 2) the transient duration at contact points amounts to 10 seconds; 3) the overshoot of engagement is pre-load dependent.