EP0387906A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Sensor having a cantilever
Assignee: Olympus Corp
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Filing: 1990-03-16
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-03-16
Abstract
Abstract A sensor comprises a tiny cantilever (14) of a thin film having a detection region at its free end portion, a detector (21) for detecting a displacement of the cantilever (14) caused by material acting on the detecting region, and calculation unit (15) for calculating an amount of the material acting on the detection region, based on the displacement of the cantilever (14) which has been detected by the detector (21), thereby to measure the intensity of a particle-stream applied to the detection region or the thickness of a film formed on the detection region.
Inventors
- 👤 Tsugiko Takase
- 👤 Hideo Adachi
- 👤 Takao Okada
- 👤 Hisanari Shimazu
- 👤 Hideo Tomabechi
- 👤 Hiroshi Kajimura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 16:22
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01Q; G01Q10/00; G01Q10/04; G01Q10/06; B; B82; B82Y; B82Y35/00; G01B; G01B7/00; G01B7/02; G01B7/06; G01Q20/00; G01Q20/02; G01Q60/00; G01Q60/10; G01Q60/16; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S977/00; Y10S977/84; Y10S977/849; Y10S977/852
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A sensor characterized by comprising: a tiny cantilever (14) made of a thin film, and fixed at one end, and having a free end portion; a detection region located on the free end portion of said cantilever (14); displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45) for detecting a displacement of said cantilever (14) from material acting on said detection region; and calculation means (15) for calculating an amount of the material acting on said detection region, based on the displacement of said cantilever (14) which has been detected by said displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45), thereby to measure the intensity of a particle-stream applied to said detection region or the thickness of a thin film formed on said detection region.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
118 words
A sensor characterized by comprising: a tiny cantilever (14) made of a thin film, and fixed at one end, and having a free end portion; a detection region located on the free end portion of said cantilever (14); displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45) for detecting a displacement of said cantilever (14) from material acting on said detection region; and calculation means (15) for calculating an amount of the material acting on said detection region, based on the displacement of said cantilever (14) which has been detected by said displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45), thereby to measure the intensity of a particle-stream applied to said detection region or the thickness of a thin film formed on said detection region.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
The sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that said displacement-detecting means (21) comprises an electrically conductive probe (18) attached to the free end portion of said cantilever (14) facing a conductive reference member (10), and is designed to detect the displacement of said cantilever (14) from changes in a tunnel current generated when a bias voltage is applied between the probe (18) and the reference member (10).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
73 words
The sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that said displacement-detecting means (43) has cantilever-driving means (40, 41) for vibrating said cantilever at characteristic frequency specific to said cantilever (14), and frequencydetecting means (43) for detecting changes in the frequency at which said cantilever (14) is vibrated, which have resulting from the material acting on said cantilever (14), whereby the displacement of said cantilever (14) is determined from the changes in the frequency.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
79 words
The sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that said displacement-detectomg means comprises a probe (18) attached to the free end portion of said cantilever, servo control means (13) for bending said cantilever in such a direction as to compensate for changes in a physical quantity which occur between the probe (18) and a reference member (10) facing the probe, and servo amount-detecting means for detecting a servo amount which the servo control means has applied to the probe.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
The sensor according to claim 4, characterized in that said physical quantity is a tunnel current flowing between said probe (18) and said reference member (10).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
The sensor according to claim 4, characterized in that said physical quantity is an atomic force generated between said probe (18) and said reference member (10).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The sensor according to claim 4, characterized in that said physical quantity is a magnetic force generated between said probe (18) and said reference member (10).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
The sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that said detection region is defined by an opening (20) made in a wall of a housing (12) containing said cantilever (14) and located above the free end portion of said cantilever (14).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that said end portion of said cantilever (14) is held by a piezoelectric member.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
137 words
A sensor characterized by comprising: a plurality of tiny cantilevers (22) made of a thin film, and fixed at one end, and having a free end; a plurality of detection regions formed, respectively, on those portions of said cantilevers (22) which are located close to the free end portions of said cantilevers (22); displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45) for detecting a displacement of each of said cantilevers (22) from material acting on the detection region formed on the cantilever; and calculation means (15) for calculating an amount of the material acting on said detection regions, based on the displacements of said cantilevers (22) which have been detected by said displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45), thereby to measure the intensities of particle-streams applied to said detection regions or the thicknesses of thin films formed on said detection regions.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
137 words
A sensor characterized by comprising: a plurality of tiny cantilevers (22) made of a thin film, and fixed at one end, and having a free end; a plurality of detection regions formed, respectively, on those portions of said cantilevers (22) which are located close to the free end portions of said cantilevers (22); displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45) for detecting a displacement of each of said cantilevers (22) from material acting on the detection region formed on the cantilever; and calculation means (15) for calculating an amount of the material acting on said detection regions, based on the displacements of said cantilevers (22) which have been detected by said displacement-detecting means (21, 43, 45), thereby to measure the intensities of particle-streams applied to said detection regions or the thicknesses of thin films formed on said detection regions.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
39 words
The sensor according to claim 10, characterized in that said detection regions are defined by openings (32) made in that wall of a housing (30) containing said cantilevers (22), which opposes the free end portions of said cantilevers (22).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
45 words
The sensor according to claim 10, characterized in that said cantilevers (22) extend parallel to one another, said one end of each cantilever (22) is held by a piezoelectric member (28), and the free ends of said cantilevers (22) are aligned at the same level.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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