indented the upper end of the chuck 704 extends through a hole in the center of the plate 709 and gives access to the central shaft from within the afm to enable the mechanical converter assembly discussed above in connection with the first preferred embodiment to function the probe 703 of the assembled flexure of fig1 is a new device not currently known in the art and as such is significantly different from the indenter probe 303 of the assembled flexure of fig8 probe 703 has both a different function than indenter probe 303 and a different construction probe 703 has a dual function it is both an optical element and an indenting probe as an optical element probe 703 acts as a lens allowing the optical viewer system of the afm head in which assembled flexure of fig1 is installed direct optical view of the sample to be indented as an indenting probe probe 703 is a rigid element that applies force and indents the sample as with traditional indenter probes such as 303 with this dual function comes a requirement for a different construction a probe like probe 703 must be fabricated from a material which is both very hard and transparent to light suitable materials include diamond and sapphire probe 703 has many advantages over other indenter transducers or indenting probes these include making available true top optical view of the sample to be indented allowing for accurate positioning of indentations and having a combination of low.