Atomic force microscope system using selective active damping
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorsChristopher Ryan Moon, Richard K. Workman
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Abstract
An atomic force microscope (AFM) system comprises a cantilever arm attached to a probe tip. The system controls a height of the cantilever arm to press the probe tip against a sample and then separate the probe tip from the sample, to detect a disturbance of the cantilever arm after the separation of the probe tip from the surface, and to engage active damping of the cantilever arm to suppress the disturbance.
Claims15
A method of operating an atomic force microscope (AFM) system comprising a cantilever arm attached to a probe tip, the method comprising:
- controlling a height of the cantilever arm to press the probe tip against a sample and then separate the probe tip from the sample;
- detecting a vibration of the cantilever arm after the separation of the probe tip from the surface;
- and
- engaging active damping of the cantilever arm to counteract the vibration of the cantilever to increase a rate of decay of the vibration of the cantilever arm compared to a natural damping of the cantilever arm.
An atomic force microscope (AFM) system, comprising:
- a cantilever arm;
- a probe tip attached to the cantilever arm;
- and
- a controller configured to control a height of the cantilever arm to press the probe tip against a sample and then separate the probe tip from the sample, to detect a vibration of the cantilever arm after the separation of the probe tip from the surface, and to engage active damping of the cantilever arm to counteract the vibration of the cantilever to increase a rate of decay of the vibration of the cantilever arm compared to a natural damping of the cantilever arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.