Mad City Labs Downloads

  1. Confirming Picometer Performance Of Nanopositioning Systems 12/3/2021

    Deciphering nanopositioner specifications across vendors can be difficult due to variations in definitions, units, and data presentation. Transparency, achievability, and verifiability are key for specifications.

  2. Precision Motion And How To Achieve It 9/17/2021

    Moving from micron- to nanoscale-level research forces researchers to better understand their own actions’ impact on passive factors that undermine precision. Simple modifications to an experiment or instrumentation can help researchers achieve precision goals without additional processing.

  3. Nanopositioners: What Are They Good For? 5/7/2021

    Nanopositioner applications, utility, and functionality often are misunderstood — to the detriment of researchers whose experiments might benefit from the stability, precision, and repeatability these instruments offer.

  4. Atomic Force Microscopy Enhances The Nanoscopy Toolkit 3/22/2021

    Atomic force microscopes are ideal for nanomechanical characterization, bringing utility to nanoscopy applications and excelling in conditions where low light presents challenges or sample integrity is vital.

  5. Creating Tungsten Tips Using Mad City Labs SPM Etch Kit 9/29/2020

    The Mad City Labs SPM etch kit is designed allow users to create a sharp tungsten tip suitable for scanning probe microscopy. The instrumentation allows the user to attach a tungsten wire to a quartz tuning fork and electrochemically etch the wire. 

  6. High Resolution Steps For Angular Displacement Using The Nano-MTA2 9/29/2020

    This app note presents data demonstrating the Nano-MTA2's ability to take extremely small steps of 25 nanoradians and for these steps to be discerned by an external measurement. This performance is possible due to the low noise and high-resolution capabilities of PicoQ® sensors.

  7. Using Shattered Silicon As Resonant Probe Tips 9/29/2020

    Shattered silicon wafers can produce shards of silicon that terminate in sharp tips suitable for AFM use. The simplicity and low cost of this method makes it a viable alternative to using etched tungsten tips. The SPM Etch Kit can be used to attach shard of silicon to the tuning fork to produce a tuning fork tip. This application note assumes that the SPM etch kit is assembled and ready for use.

  8. Scanning In Liquid With A Tuning Fork Probe And Diving Bell Kit 9/29/2020

    This application note describes how to prepare a probe for an AFM scan in liquids using a tuning fork probe. The note describes how the process utilizes a “diving bell” approach to protect the probe and how to fabricate the diving bell using the Mad City Labs diving bell kit.

  9. AFM With Motorized XYZ And Camera 9/29/2020

    An atomic force microscope (AFM) can be built using Mad City Labs products along with other off-the-shelf components. This application note describes the construction of a fully automated AFM with the addition of a camera with a coaxial illuminator to view the tip approach.

  10. AFM With Manual XY And Automated Z Approach And Camera 9/29/2020

    An atomic force microscope (AFM) can be built using Mad City Labs products along with other off-the-shelf components. This application note describes the construction of an AFM automated Z approach with the addition of a camera with a coaxial illuminator to view the tip approach.