Plug-in Tools · FMS-EM

Force Measurement System FMS

Laser-free force measurement and nanoindentation in the SEM — resolve forces to 10 nN and identify materials by their resonance.

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Compatible
The FMS-EM force-measurement plug-in on a Kleindiek MM3A-EM micromanipulator, its silicon force sensor visible as a small gold chip at the tip, fed by a fine cable.
10 nNForce resolution
360 µNMaximum tip force
< 20 nmTip radius

Ten nanonewtons, no laser#

The FMS-EM turns an MM3A-EM into a force-sensing instrument. Its FMT-120 sensor — a silicon cantilever 120 µm long and 50 µm wide, tapering to a tip radius under 20 nm — reads force piezoresistively, with no optical or laser path to house. That keeps the sensor head small enough for the tightest SEM or FIB/SEM chamber, and resolves force to 10 nN, up to a maximum of 360 µN.

Hear the resonance#

Force feedback runs live on the controller display and through a loudspeaker, so you can identify materials and micromechanical structures from their resonance frequencies, by ear as much as by eye. The same sharp silicon tip indents a wide range of materials: hardness differences between the cementite and ferrite phases of steel show up clearly at loads of 60 µN and 100 µN.

From beetle setae to nickel superalloys#

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research fitted an FMS-EM to an MM3A-EM to run tensile tests on insect leg setae — the adhesive hairs on a beetle’s foot — loading each hair incrementally until it broke. At TU Braunschweig, the same tip pressed into 1 µm particles of a nickel-based superalloy at forces up to 2 mN to study micro-deformation. Software with a calibration wizard for the Force Measurement Tips records the resulting force–time curves for acquisition, visualization and export, while the controller calibrates in one touch over USB. Your existing micromanipulator system can be quickly and easily upgraded for use with the FMS-EM.

Up close

Gallery

  • SEM image of three FMT-120 force sensors still attached along a wafer edge, each ending in a slender cantilever tip.
    FMT-120 sensors before singulation from the wafer.
  • SEM close-up of an FMT-120 piezoresistive cantilever, showing the etched rectangular window that forms the strain-sensing leg.
    The etched window in the cantilever forms the piezoresistive strain path.
  • SEM close-up of the FMT-120 sensor tip, tapering to a sub-20 nm point.
    Tip radius under 20 nm, tip height above 5 µm.
  • SEM montage of an insect leg's adhesive hair (seta) mounted between tungsten fixation tapes for a tensile test, alongside a schematic of the piezo-cantilever force setup and close-ups of the seta before and after fracture.
    Tensile test on a beetle's adhesive hair (seta), Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Stuttgart.
  • Two SEM images of an FMS tip pressing into a 1 µm nickel-based superalloy particle, deforming it under load.
    Deformation of a 1 µm nickel-based superalloy particle at a maximum force of 2 mN (J. Rösler, D. Mukherji, TU Braunschweig).
  • SEM image of two nanoindentation marks, annotated with measured diameters of 449.17 nm and 442.89 nm.
    Indent diameters measured directly in the SEM, around 445 nm across.
Specifications

Technical data

FMT-120 sensor — geometry

Length
120 µm
Width
50 µm
Height
4–5 µm
Tip radius
< 20 nm
Tip height
> 5 µm

FMT-120 sensor — performance

Tip force constant (calculated)
30–40 N/m
Force resolution
10 nN
Maximum tip force
360 µN
Resistance
500–650 Ω
Sensitivity
18.8 × 10⁻³ mV/nm (at Vbridge = 2.5 V)

Environment

Lowest pressure
10⁻⁷ mbar
Why it wins

Advantages

Laser-free force readout

  • Piezoresistive sensing needs no optical or laser system
  • Keeps the sensor head small enough for tight SEM/FIB chambers
  • Force feedback shown live on the controller display

Characterize by resonance

  • Force feedback coupled to a loudspeaker
  • Identify materials and micromechanical structures by their resonance frequencies
  • FMT-120 silicon tips resolve indentation forces to 10 nN

Complete measurement solution

  • Controller with one-touch calibration and a USB interface
  • Software for data acquisition, visualization and export
  • Calibration wizard for the Force Measurement Tips; records force–time curves

Retrofits without a rebuild

  • Plug-in holder and force sensors mount directly on an existing MM3A-EM
  • No changes to the manipulator's own positioning system
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