Scanning-probe microscope including non-optical means for detecting normal tip-sample interactions
First Claim
1. A scanning-probe microscope for measuring the topography of a surface of a sample, said scanning-probe microscope comprising:
- an XYZ piezo drive;
a quartz tuning-fork oscillator having a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is attached to said XYZ piezo drive, and wherein said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is oriented such that the tines of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator each lie in the XY plane and their fundamental mode of oscillation vibrates the ends of said tines in the Z direction;
a probe tip affixed to one of said tines, said probe tip comes to a point in the Z direction and directed away from said XYZ piezo drive;
a signal source to provide a drive signal to drive said first electrode at a mechanical resonant frequency of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator;
a current-to-voltage amplifier to monitor the electrical current flowing through said second electrode and having an output, wherein the electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator may be measured, and the resonant vibration amplitude of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is monitored; and
wherein said XYZ piezo drive is operable to move said probe tip close to said surface of said sample until said probe tip lightly taps said sample surface thereby decreasing and oscillation amplitude said electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator and wherein the interaction between said probe tip and said sample surface can be used to regulate the distance between said probe tip and said sample surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embodiment of the instant invention is a scanning-probe microscope for measuring the topography of a surface of a sample, the scanning-probe microscope comprising: an XYZ piezo drive (piezo drive 1); a quartz tuning-fork oscillator (fork 2) having a first electrode (electrode 3 or 4) and a second electrode (electrode 3 or 4), wherein the quartz tuning-fork oscillator is attached to the XYZ piezo drive, and wherein the quartz tuning-fork oscillator is oriented such that the tines of the quartz tuning-fork oscillator each lie in the XY plane and their fundamental mode of oscillation vibrates the ends of the tines in the Z direction; a probe tip (probe tip 6) affixed to one of the tines, the probe tip comes to a point in the Z direction and directed away from the XYZ piezo drive; a signal source (source 7) to provide a drive signal to drive the first electrode at a mechanical resonant frequency of the quartz tuning-fork oscillator; a current-to-voltage amplifier (preamp 8) to monitor the electrical current flowing through the second electrode and having an output, wherein the electrical impedance of the quartz tuning-fork oscillator may be measured, and the resonant vibration amplitude of the quartz tuning-fork oscillator is monitored; and wherein the XYZ piezo drive is operable to move the probe tip close to the surface of the sample until the probe tip lightly taps the sample surface thereby decreasing and oscillation amplitude the electrical impedance of the quartz tuning-fork oscillator and wherein the interaction between the probe tip and the sample surface can be used to regulate the distance between the probe tip and the sample surface.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A scanning-probe microscope for measuring the topography of a surface of a sample, said scanning-probe microscope comprising:
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an XYZ piezo drive; a quartz tuning-fork oscillator having a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is attached to said XYZ piezo drive, and wherein said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is oriented such that the tines of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator each lie in the XY plane and their fundamental mode of oscillation vibrates the ends of said tines in the Z direction; a probe tip affixed to one of said tines, said probe tip comes to a point in the Z direction and directed away from said XYZ piezo drive; a signal source to provide a drive signal to drive said first electrode at a mechanical resonant frequency of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator; a current-to-voltage amplifier to monitor the electrical current flowing through said second electrode and having an output, wherein the electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator may be measured, and the resonant vibration amplitude of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is monitored; and wherein said XYZ piezo drive is operable to move said probe tip close to said surface of said sample until said probe tip lightly taps said sample surface thereby decreasing and oscillation amplitude said electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator and wherein the interaction between said probe tip and said sample surface can be used to regulate the distance between said probe tip and said sample surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A near-field scanning optical microscope for mapping the topography and optical properties of a sample surface, said near-field scanning optical microscope comprising:
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a XYZ piezo drive; a quartz tuning-fork oscillator having a first electrode and a second electrode, said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is attached to said XYZ piezo drive and is oriented such that tines of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator each lie in the XY plane and their fundamental mode of oscillation vibrates the ends of said tines in the Z direction; an optical fiber affixed to one of said tines, said optical fiber comes to a point in the Z direction and directed away from said XYZ piezo drive; a signal source to drive said first electrode at a mechanical resonant frequency of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator; a current-to-voltage amplifier to monitor the electrical current flowing through said second electrode, the electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is measured and the resonant vibration amplitude of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator is monitored; and wherein said XYZ piezo drive moves said optical fiber close to a sample surface until said optical fiber lightly taps said sample surface so as to decrease, said oscillation amplitude and said electrical impedance of said quartz tuning-fork oscillator, the interaction between said optical fiber and said sample surface is utilized so as to regulate the distance between optical fiber and sample surface.
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Specification