Piezoelectric microcantilevers and uses in atomic force microscopy
First Claim
1. A method of atomic force microscopy comprising the steps of:
- a) actuating a microcantilever force sensor located in contact with or proximate to an object, wherein the microcantilever force sensor comprises a piezoelectric layer and a non-piezoelectric layer, wherein said piezoelectric layer is selected from the group consisting of;
a piezoelectric film having a dielectric constant of more than about 1600 and a thickness of less than about 8 μ
m, anda piezoelectric film having a thickness less than about 75μ
m and a piezoelectric coefficient −
d31 of more than about 250 pm/V;
b) detecting a shift in resonance frequency using the microcantilever force sensor; and
c) determining a characteristic of the object from said detected resonance frequency shift.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is direct to a piezoelectric microcantilever for static contact and dynamic noncontact atomic force microscopy which may be carried out in solution. The piezoelectric microcantilever, which includes a piezoelectric layer and a non-piezoelectric layer is capable of self actuation and detection. The piezoelectric layer may be constructed from a lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3)0.65—(PbTiO3)0.35(PMN0.65-PT0.35) (PMN-PT), zirconate titanate (PZT)/SiO2 or from any lead-free piezoelectric materials such as doped sodium-potassium niobate-lithium niobate. The piezoelectric layers of the microcantilevers may have dielectric constants of from 1600-3000 and thicknesses below 10 μm. Also disclosed are methods for fabricating microcantilever sensors and methods for atomic force microscopy employing the microcantilevers.
124 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of atomic force microscopy comprising the steps of:
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a) actuating a microcantilever force sensor located in contact with or proximate to an object, wherein the microcantilever force sensor comprises a piezoelectric layer and a non-piezoelectric layer, wherein said piezoelectric layer is selected from the group consisting of; a piezoelectric film having a dielectric constant of more than about 1600 and a thickness of less than about 8 μ
m, anda piezoelectric film having a thickness less than about 75μ
m and a piezoelectric coefficient −
d31 of more than about 250 pm/V;b) detecting a shift in resonance frequency using the microcantilever force sensor; and c) determining a characteristic of the object from said detected resonance frequency shift. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of atomic force microscopy comprising the steps of:
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a) actuating a microcantilever force sensor, wherein the microcantilever force sensor comprises a piezoelectric layer and a non-piezoelectric layer, wherein said piezoelectric layer is selected from the group consisting of; a piezoelectric film having a dielectric constant of more than about 1600 and a thickness of less than about 8 μ
m, anda piezoelectric film having a thickness less than about 75 μ
m and a piezoelectric coefficient −
d31 of more than about 250 pm/V,and wherein a tip of the cantilever is tapped against the object while the microcantilever force sensor is actuated; b) measuring a position of the cantilever tip; and c) determining a local height of the object from the position of the cantilever tip. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification