An apparatus and method of collecting topography, mechanical property data and electrical property data with an atomic force microscope (AFM) in either a single pass or a dual pass operation. PFT mode is preferably employed thus allowing the use of a wide range of probes, one benefit of which is to enhance the sensitivity of electrical property measurement.

An apparatus and method of collecting topography, mechanical property data and electrical property data with an atomic force microscope (AFM) in either a single pass or a dual pass operation. PFT mode is preferably employed thus allowing the use of a wide range of probes, one benefit of which is to enhance the sensitivity of electrical property measurement.

A method of measuring a sample with a probe including a cantilever mount, a cantilever extending from the cantilever mount to a free end, and a probe tip carried by the free end of the cantilever is disclosed. The method includes taking a series of measurements of a sidewall of the sample with the probe; and analysing the series of measurements to determine a characteristic of the sidewall. The measurements are taken during a measurement cycle that includes a pair of measurement drive phases. The measurement drive phases include first and second drive phases in which the probe is driven, respectively, down, then up, next to the sidewall. During one of the drive phases the probe tip interacts with the sidewall, and the series of measurements are taken by measuring an angle of the cantilever as the probe tip interacts with the sidewall during the one of the drive phases.

A method of measuring a sample with a probe including a cantilever mount, a cantilever extending from the cantilever mount to a free end, and a probe tip carried by the free end of the cantilever is disclosed. The method includes taking a series of measurements of a sidewall of the sample with the probe; and analysing the series of measurements to determine a characteristic of the sidewall. The measurements are taken during a measurement cycle that includes a pair of measurement drive phases. The measurement drive phases include first and second drive phases in which the probe is driven, respectively, down, then up, next to the sidewall. During one of the drive phases the probe tip interacts with the sidewall, and the series of measurements are taken by measuring an angle of the cantilever as the probe tip interacts with the sidewall during the one of the drive phases.

An automated system for controlling a conductive probe of a nanoprober system in situ to a charged particle beam (CPB) imaging system can include a nanoprober comprising an actuator and a conductive probe; signal measurement circuitry electrically coupled to the conductive probe and to receive an electrical signal from the conductive probe; and a hardware processor to execute operations. The operations can include activating a CPB within a first reference frame, the first reference frame associated with the CPB; causing, by a computerized control system, the CPB and the conductive probe to intersect; measuring an electrical response from the intersection of the CPB with the conductive probe; and determining a location of the conductive probe in a second reference frame based on the electric response from the intersection of the CPB with the conductive probe, the second reference frame associated with the conductive probe.

An automated system for controlling a conductive probe of a nanoprober system in situ to a charged particle beam (CPB) imaging system can include a nanoprober comprising an actuator and a conductive probe; signal measurement circuitry electrically coupled to the conductive probe and to receive an electrical signal from the conductive probe; and a hardware processor to execute operations. The operations can include activating a CPB within a first reference frame, the first reference frame associated with the CPB; causing, by a computerized control system, the CPB and the conductive probe to intersect; measuring an electrical response from the intersection of the CPB with the conductive probe; and determining a location of the conductive probe in a second reference frame based on the electric response from the intersection of the CPB with the conductive probe, the second reference frame associated with the conductive probe.

An active noise isolation apparatus and method for cancelling vibration noise from the probe signal of a scanning tunneling microscope by generating a correction signal by convolution based on the probe signal and the sensor signal, which is based on the ambient vibration that adds noise to the probe signal.

An active noise isolation apparatus and method for cancelling vibration noise from the probe signal of a scanning tunneling microscope by generating a correction signal by convolution based on the probe signal and the sensor signal, which is based on the ambient vibration that adds noise to the probe signal.

Apparatus and techniques presented combine the features and benefits of amplitude modulated (AM) atomic force microscopy (AFM), sometimes called AC mode AFM, with frequency modulated (FM) AFM. In AM-FM imaging, the topographic feedback from the first resonant drive frequency operates in AM mode while the phase feedback from second resonant drive frequency operates in FM mode. In particular the first or second frequency may be used to measure the loss tangent, a dimensionless parameter which measures the ratio of energy dissipated to energy stored in a cycle of deformation.

Methods and apparatuses are provided for automatically controlling and stabilizing aspects of a scanning probe microscope (SPM), such as an atomic force microscope (AFM), using Peak Force Tapping (PFT) Mode. In an embodiment, a controller automatically controls periodic motion of a probe relative to a sample in response to a substantially instantaneous force determined, and automatically controls a gain in a feedback loop. A gain control circuit automatically tunes a gain based on separation distances between a probe and a sample to facilitate stability. Accordingly, instability onset is quickly and accurately determined during scanning, thereby eliminating the need of expert user tuning of gains during operation.