Fluid viscosity determination by means of uncalibrated atomic force microscopy cantilevers

In this letter it has been proved that the vibrating resonance frequency of an atomic force microscope cantilever is strictly characterized by its thickness (α), while its width/thickness ratio (β) appears to be a less sensitive parameter that can be approximated to a constant. We therefore propose a data analysis method that, by accounting for a constant β, allows for the determination of the value of α and consequently to calculate η. This method of monitoring viscosity has the advantage of requiring short measurement times on very small sample volumes, thereby avoiding laborious, time-consuming cantilever calibration.