torsional resonance frequency that is 16 3 times the fundamental flexural resonance frequency the wider free end of cantilever 120 has the effect of tuning the torsional resonance frequency of the cantilever as will be described in more detail below fig6 and 7 are spectrums of the flexural and torsional vibrations respectively of cantilever 120 tapping on a sample surface at the fundamental flexural resonance frequency from a comparison of the vibration spectrum of the flexural mode fig6 and the vibration spectrum of the torsional mode fig7 it can be observed that more high harmonic force components are excited in the torsional mode with better signal to noise ratio thus more information regarding the tip sample interaction can be retrieved from the torsional vibration spectrum fig8 10 illustrate three other alternate embodiments of the torsional cantilever of the present invention one of ordinary skill in the art upon being apprised of the present description would appreciate that the torsional cantilever of the present invention can be implemented using various cantilever configurations and geometries referring to fig8 a torsional cantilever 140 is formed as a rectangular cantilever with a tapered free end a probe tip 146 is positioned offset from the axis of torsion line 144 referring to fig9 a torsional cantilever 160 is configured as a rectangular cantilever including two arms 162 a and 162 b separated by.