Stanford QCM200 Quartz Crystal Microbalance

The QCM200 Quartz Crystal Microbalance measures mass and viscosity in processes occurring at or near surfaces, or within thin films. It comes with controller, oscillator electronics, crystal holder and three quartz crystals.

Features:

• Measures frequency and resistance
• Analog output for potentiostats
• Transformer-isolated crystal
• Simple shunt-capacitance cancellation
• External 10MHz input
• Windows software

The QCM200 Quartz Crystal Microbalance measures mass and viscosity in processes occurring at or near surfaces, or within thin films. This system includes a controller, crystal oscillator electronics, crystal holder, three quartz crystals, and Windows software.

The instrument reads the resonant frequency and resistance of a 5 MHz, AT-cut quartz crystal. The resonant frequency changes as a linear function of the mass of material deposited on the crystal surface. The resistance at resonance changes with the viscosity / elasticity of the material (film or liquid) in contact with the crystal surface.

As a gravimetric instrument, the QCM200 can measure mass ranging from micrograms to fractions of a nanogram. Detection limits correspond to submonolayers of atoms. Observations of conformational changes, such as phase transitions, swelling, and cross-linking, can easily be made.

Specifically designed to handle heavy loads (up to 5 kΩ), the instruments will lossy films and highly viscous liquids.

The QCM200 is a stand-alone instrument with a built-in frequency counter and resistance meter. Series resonance frequency and resistance are measured and displayed, and there is an analog output proportional to frequency which can be used to interface with a potentiostat. The QCM200 can be operated from the front panel or a PC using the RS-232 interface. Windows software is provided for real-time data acquisition, display, analysis and storage. Both frequency and resistance trends can be viewed. User-tags are provided to time-stamp important events.

The stability and accuracy of the QCM200 are ideal for most experiments. For special applications requiring optimum long-term frequency stability, a precision timebase, such as the FS725 Rubidium Frequency Standard, can be connected to the external 10 MHz input.

For further information please contact us or download the datasheet.