Surface analyzing and processing apparatus

Apparatus for analyzing and processing a surface of a sample, comprising:

• a vacuum chamber;
• an elastic lever having a tip and a conductive probe mounted on said tip, said lever and said probe being mounted inside said vacuum chamber at a location such that said tip is above the surface of a sample installed in said vacuum chamber;
• displacement detecting means connected to said lever for detecting displacement of said lever;
• a servo system and piezoelectric actuator connected for controlling at least one of:
• the displacement of said lever so as to keep said lever at a constant position;
• and the distance between the surface of a sample and the probe so as to keep the distance at a specified value;
• a thermostatic controlling system disposed for controlling the temperature of the surface of the sample to maintain the temperature at a specified value;
• a bias voltage supply source connected for selectively applying one of a pulsed voltage and a continuous voltage between said probe and the sample;
• current measuring means connected for detecting minute levels of current flowing out from the surface of the sample when a voltage is applied between said probe and the sample by said bias voltage supply source, said current measuring means supplying a signal representative of the detected current;
• signal integrating means coupled to said current measuring means for producing an integration signal representative of the time integral of the detected current;
• analyzing means disposed for analyzing particles scattered from the surface of the sample when a voltage is applied by said bias voltage supply source;
• and
• a plurality of nozzles extending into said vacuum chamber for introducing a selected one of a plurality of gasses into said vacuum chamber under a controlled pressure.