Since the first reports of atomic force microscopy 30 years ago, single-crystal silicon cantilevers have attracted much interest for high-sensitivity imaging and sensing. The energy dissipation during the cantilever oscillation that is central to these technologies is one of the limiting factors preventing higher sensitivities and spatial resolutions. Now researchers have traced these losses to the amorphous nature of the oxide layers that rapidly form on silicon, as well as identifying ways of preventing growth of this amorphous layer, thus allowing up to fivefold improvements to cantilever performance…..
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63011