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Updated: May 7, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Note: Determination of torsional spring constant of atomic force microscopy cantilevers: combining normal spring
R Álvarez-Asencio1, E Thormann, M W Rutland
1Department of Surface and Corrosion Science, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
A technique has been developed for the calculation of torsional spring constants for AFM cantilevers based on the combination of the normal spring constant and plate/beam theory. It is easy to apply and allow the determination of torsional constants for stiff cantilevers where the thermal power spectrum is difficult to obtain due to the high resonance frequency and low signal/noise ratio. The applicability is shown to be general and this simple approach can thus be used to obtain torsional constants for any beam shaped cantilever.
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