US 12,761,241 B2Granted

Scanning probe microscopy system and method of operating such a system

AssigneeNearfield Instruments B.V.

InventorsHamed Sadeghian Marnani, Arseniy Kalinin, Ruud Ruizenaar, Jakob Van De Laar

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Abstract

The present document relates to a scanning probe microscopy system comprising a sample support structure, a sensor head including a probe, a deflection sensor unit, and actuators including a Z-motion actuator and a scanning actuator. The system further comprises a control unit, able to receive the deflection sensor signal and control the actuators. The control unit comprises multiple signal processing units, each enabling to: receive the deflection signal, provide a processed signal, and cooperating with a triggering unit which compares the processed signal against a predefined triggering condition, and generates a trigger when the condition is met.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A scanning probe microscopy system comprising a sample support structure for supporting a sample including a sample surface, a sensor head including a probe comprising a cantilever and a probe tip arranged on the cantilever, a deflection sensor unit for obtaining a deflection sensor signal indicative of a deflection of the probe tip of the probe during scanning, and one or more actuators including:

a Z-motion actuator for moving the probe tip in a direction transverse to the sample surface, and a scanning actuator for moving the probe tip relative to the substrate surface;
wherein the system further comprises a control unit configured for receiving the deflection sensor signal associated with the probe from the deflection sensor unit and for controlling the one or more actuators, wherein for simultaneously providing a plurality of processed signals, the control unit comprises a plurality of signal processing units, wherein each of the plurality of signal processing units is configured for receiving the deflection sensor signal as provided by the deflection sensor unit and for providing at least one processed signal of the plurality of processed signals, each of the signal processing units being configured for cooperating with an associated triggering unit configured for comparing the processed signal of the respective processing unit against a predefined triggering condition, for generating a trigger signal when the triggering condition is met.

A method of operating a scanning probe microscopy system for performing scanning probe microscopy on a sample including a sample surface,

wherein the system comprises:
a control unit, a sensor head including a probe comprising a cantilever and a probe tip arranged on the cantilever, a deflection sensor unit for obtaining a deflection sensor signal indicative of a deflection of the probe tip of the probe during scanning, and one or more actuators including:
a Z-motion actuator for moving the probe tip in a direction transverse to the sample surface, and a scanning actuator for moving the probe tip relative to the substrate surface;
wherein the method comprises:
receiving, by the control unit, the deflection sensor signal associated with the probe from the deflection sensor unit;
and
controlling, by the control unit, the one or more actuators dependent on the received deflection sensor signal;
wherein, for performing the step of controlling, the deflection sensor signal is simultaneously processed by a plurality of signal processing units of the control unit, such that each of the plurality of signal processing units provides at least one processed signal of a plurality of processed signals;
and
wherein each of the signal processing units cooperates with an associated triggering unit, each trigger unit thereby performing a step of comparing the at least one processed signal against a predefined triggering condition, for generating a trigger signal when the triggering condition is met.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.