4. Performance and technical specifications of the force-measuring device

4.1 Stiffness

The micro- and nanoforces sensor can be represented mechanically as a combination of several springs, with varying stiffnesses K _x , K _y and K _z , supporting the tubular glass rod. The force versus displacement characteristic is linear along the y and z measurement directions and remains strongly non-linear along the x direction mainly due to the influence of diamagnetic forces. Figure 6 shows an example of the force versus displacement characteristic in the y direction of the micro- and nanoforces sensor. The...