Patent EP0596494A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0596494A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Scanning probe microscope and method of control error correction
Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd
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Filing: 1993-11-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-11-04
Abstract
Abstract A scanning probe microscope in which the deflection of a cantilever (1, 104) caused by the proximity between a stylus (17, 109) and a sample (2) is detected, the relative distance between the sample and a probe at which the level of the deflection detection signal coincides with a reference level is subjected to servo control thereby to control the force exerted on the stylus to a constant level, and the relative positions of the sample and the probe are scanned to produce a three-dimensional image of the surface of the sample. In order to eliminate the error of servo control attributable to the deformation of the cantilever, the deflection detection signal is held with the cantilever set in free standing state, and the signal thus held is used to correct the level of the cantilever deflection detection signal. The servo control is effected by the detection signal thus corrected.
Inventors
- 👤 Sumio Hosaka
- 👤 Atsushi Kikugawa
- 👤 Yukio Honda
- 👤 Hajime Koyanagi
- 👤 Kiyosi Nagasawa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 15:49
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01Q; G01Q70/00; G01Q70/02; G01Q70/04; B; B82; B82Y; B82Y35/00; G01Q30/00; G01Q30/04; G01Q30/06; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S977/00; Y10S977/84; Y10S977/849; Y10S977/85; Y10S977/86; Y10S977/868; Y10S977/87; Y10S977/872; Y10S977/873
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
138 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever (1, 104) with a stylus (17, 109) at an end thereof and a probe base (23, 102) for holding said cantilever; scanning means (14, 100) for driving the probe base and/or a sample (2) arranged in proximity to said stylus to move the relative positions of said probe and the sample; means (30, 103) for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; means (25, 22, 48) for correcting the detection output of said deflection detection means in accordance with the deflection detection value of the cantilever in free standing state; and servo control means (9) supplied with the corrected detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distances of the probe and the sample thereby to control the force exerted between the sample and the stylus.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
138 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever (1, 104) with a stylus (17, 109) at an end thereof and a probe base (23, 102) for holding said cantilever; scanning means (14, 100) for driving the probe base and/or a sample (2) arranged in proximity to said stylus to move the relative positions of said probe and the sample; means (30, 103) for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; means (25, 22, 48) for correcting the detection output of said deflection detection means in accordance with the deflection detection value of the cantilever in free standing state; and servo control means (9) supplied with the corrected detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distances of the probe and the sample thereby to control the force exerted between the sample and the stylus.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 1, wherein said correction means includes sample-and-hold means (51) for sampling and holding the detection output of the deflection detection means when the cantilever is in free standing state, and a level shift circuit (52) for shifting the detection output level of the deflection detection means in accordance with the hold output of said sample-and-hold means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
52 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 1, wherein said cantilever is held on the probe base through a piezoelectric element (47, 113), and said correction means includes means (48) for adjusting selected one of the position and style of the cantilever against the probe by the use of said piezoelectric element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
61 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 1, wherein said deflection detection means includes a laser projector (3) for irradiating a laser beam on said cantilever and a light position detector (4) for detecting the deflection of the laser beam reflected from said cantilever, and said correction means includes positioning means (22) for adjusting the position of the light position detector.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
51 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 1, wherein said deflection detection means includes a laser beam projector (105) for irradiating the laser beam on said cantilever and a light detector (106) for detecting the interference light between the laser beam reflected from said cantilever and a predetermined reference laser beam.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
146 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever with a stylus at an end thereof and a probe base for holding said cantilever; scanning means for driving the probe base and/or a sample arranged in proximity to the stylus and thereby moving the relative positions of said probe and said sample; means for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; servo control means supplied with the detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between said probe and said sample in such a manner that the detection output level coincides with a reference level set in advance thereby to control the force exerted between the sample and the stylus; and means for correcting the reference level of the servo control means in accordance with the detection output level of said deflection detection means when the cantilever is in free standing state.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
146 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever with a stylus at an end thereof and a probe base for holding said cantilever; scanning means for driving the probe base and/or a sample arranged in proximity to the stylus and thereby moving the relative positions of said probe and said sample; means for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; servo control means supplied with the detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between said probe and said sample in such a manner that the detection output level coincides with a reference level set in advance thereby to control the force exerted between the sample and the stylus; and means for correcting the reference level of the servo control means in accordance with the detection output level of said deflection detection means when the cantilever is in free standing state.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
51 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 6, wherein said correction means includes a computer system (50 and 12) for introducing the detection output of said deflection detection means when the cantilever is in free standing state and calculating the reference level with the introduced detection output as a baseline level.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
174 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever with a stylus at an end thereof and a probe base for holding the cantilever; scanning means for moving the probe base and/or the sample arranged in proximity to the stylus and thereby changing relative positions of said probe and said sample within the plane containing the surface of said sample to be observed; positioning means for adjusting the relative distance between said probe base and said sample in the direction perpendicular to the plane containing the surface of said sample to be observed; means for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; means for correcting the detection output of said deflection detection means; servo control means supplied with the corrected detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between said probe and said sample and thereby controlling the force exerted between said sample and said stylus; and correction sequence control means (45) for setting the cantilever in free standing state by driving said positioning means and activating said correction means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
174 words
A scanning probe microscope comprising: a probe including a cantilever with a stylus at an end thereof and a probe base for holding the cantilever; scanning means for moving the probe base and/or the sample arranged in proximity to the stylus and thereby changing relative positions of said probe and said sample within the plane containing the surface of said sample to be observed; positioning means for adjusting the relative distance between said probe base and said sample in the direction perpendicular to the plane containing the surface of said sample to be observed; means for detecting the deflection of said cantilever; means for correcting the detection output of said deflection detection means; servo control means supplied with the corrected detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between said probe and said sample and thereby controlling the force exerted between said sample and said stylus; and correction sequence control means (45) for setting the cantilever in free standing state by driving said positioning means and activating said correction means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
69 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 7, wherein said correction sequence control means includes means for increasing the feed distance of said stylus set by said setting means until the stylus comes into contact with said sample and then reducing the feed distance by a predetermined amount thereby to set said cantilever in free standing state, followed by activating said correction means and increasing the feed distance again.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
27 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 8, wherein said correction sequence control means includes means for activating the correction means each time the sample is changed.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 8, wherein said correction sequence control means includes means for activating said correction means at regular intervals of time.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 8, wherein said correction sequence control means includes means for activating said correction means after evacuating the environment of said cantilever.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
A scanning probe microscope according to Claim 8, wherein said correction sequence control means includes means for activating said correction means a plurality of times after evacuating the environment of said cantilever.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
218 words
A method for correcting the operation of a scanning probe microscope comprising a probe including a cantilever (1, 104) with a stylus (17, 109) at an end thereof, scanning means (14, 100) for driving the probe and/or a sample (2) arranged in proximity to said stylus and thereby moving the relative positions of said probe and said sample, means (30, 103) for detecting the deflection of said cantilever, servo control means (9) supplied with the detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between the probe and the sample and thereby controlling the force exerted between the sample and the stylus, and means (27) for evacuating the environment containing said cantilever and said sample; said method comprising the steps of: setting the cantilever in free standing state before evacuation by said evacuation means and thereby correcting the mounting position of said deflection detection means and/or the mounting position of said cantilever in such a manner that the detection output of said deflection detection means coincides with a baseline level; and setting the cantilever in free standing position after evacuation by said evacuation means and thereby shifting the level of the detection output of said deflection detection means in such a manner that the detection output of said deflection detection means assumes the baseline level.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
218 words
A method for correcting the operation of a scanning probe microscope comprising a probe including a cantilever (1, 104) with a stylus (17, 109) at an end thereof, scanning means (14, 100) for driving the probe and/or a sample (2) arranged in proximity to said stylus and thereby moving the relative positions of said probe and said sample, means (30, 103) for detecting the deflection of said cantilever, servo control means (9) supplied with the detection output of said deflection detection means for controlling the relative distance between the probe and the sample and thereby controlling the force exerted between the sample and the stylus, and means (27) for evacuating the environment containing said cantilever and said sample; said method comprising the steps of: setting the cantilever in free standing state before evacuation by said evacuation means and thereby correcting the mounting position of said deflection detection means and/or the mounting position of said cantilever in such a manner that the detection output of said deflection detection means coincides with a baseline level; and setting the cantilever in free standing position after evacuation by said evacuation means and thereby shifting the level of the detection output of said deflection detection means in such a manner that the detection output of said deflection detection means assumes the baseline level.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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