Non-contact type atomic microscope and observation method using it
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTakeaki Itsuji, Shunichi Shido
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A non-contact-type atomic microscope including a plurality of probes differing in resonance frequency, an actuator for vibrating the plurality of probes simultaneously, and a drive signal generating circuit for generating a drive signal for the actuator. The drive signal contains a predetermined frequency for vibrating each of the plurality probes. Also, there is a method for observing a surface shape of a sample by using a plurality of probes. The method includes a step of vibrating the plurality of probes simultaneously with a common actuator in a vicinity of their resonance frequencies. A signal for driving the actuator contains a predetermined frequency for vibrating each of the probes.
Claims7
A non-contact-type atomic microscope comprising:
- a plurality of probes differing in resonance frequency;
- an actuator for vibrating said plurality of probes simultaneously;
- and
- a drive signal generating circuit for generating a drive signal for said actuator, the drive signal containing a predetermined frequency for vibrating each of said plurality of probes.
An observation method for observing a surface shape of a sample by using a plurality of probes, comprising:
- a step of vibrating the plurality of probes simultaneously with a common actuator;
- wherein a signal for driving the actuator contains a predetermined frequency for vibrating each of the probes;
- a step of detecting any displacement in each of the probes and generating an output signal;
- and
- a step of generating a signal representing the surface shape based on the output signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.