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AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsMasahiro Watanabe, Toru Kurenuma, Hiroshi Kuroda, Takafumi Morimoto, Shuichi Baba, Toshihiko Nakata, Manabu Edamura, Yukio Kembo
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A scanning probe microscope, capable of performing shape measurement not affected by electrostatic charge distribution of a sample, which: monitors an electrostatic charge state by detecting a change in a flexure or vibrating state of a cantilever due to electrostatic charges in synchronization with scanning during measurement with relative scanning between the probe and the sample, and makes potential adjustment so as to cancel an influence of electrostatic charge distribution, thus preventing damage of the probe or the sample due to discharge and achieving reduction in measurement errors due to electrostatic charge distribution.
A scanning probe microscope comprising a drive mechanism capable of accurately controlling a mutual position between a retainer of a cantilever with a probe on a tip thereof and a sample stage for retaining a sample and a sensor capable of measuring a deformation state of the cantilever and being capable of measuring a 3D surface shape of the sample and other surface distributions, wherein:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.