The present document relates to a method of detecting structures on or below the surface of a sample using a probe including a cantilever and a probe tip, the cantilever being characterized by one ore more normal modes of resonance including a fundamental resonance frequency, the method including: applying, using a transducer, a vibrational input signal to the sample; sensing, while the probe tip is in contact with the surface, an output signal indicative of motion of the probe tip due to vibrations at the surface induced by the vibrational input signal; wherein the vibrational input signal comprises at least a first signal component having a frequency within a range of 10 to 100 megahertz; and wherein the vibrational input signal is amplitude modulated using at least a second signal component having a modulation frequency below 5 megahertz. The present document further relates to a scanning probe microscopy method.

Methods and apparatus for obtaining extremely high sensitivity chemical composition maps with spatial resolution down to a few nanometers. In some embodiments these chemical composition maps are created using a combination of three techniques: (1) Illuminating the sample with IR radiation than is tuned to an absorption band in the sample; and (2) Optimizing a mechanical coupling efficiency that is tuned to a specific target material; (3) Optimizing a resonant detection that is tuned to a specific target material. With the combination of these steps it is possible to obtain (1) Chemical composition maps based on unique IR absorption; (2) spatial resolution that is enhanced by extremely short-range tip-sample interactions; and (3) resonant amplification tuned to a specific target material. In other embodiments it is possible to take advantage of any two of these steps and still achieve a substantial improvement in spatial resolution and/or sensitivity.

A sharpening method for a probe tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) includes the steps of dripping a prepared slurry on a glass slide to form a droplet on the glass slide, where particles of the prepared slurry are diamond powder; infiltrating the tip to be sharpened with the prepared slurry; setting operation mode of the AFM to tapping in the fluid and lowering the probe into droplet till the probe cantilever beam is immersed completely in the droplet; setting vibration parameters, scanning parameters, and sharpening time, performing tip sharpening; and evaluating the sharpening results, and finishing sharpening. When the AFM works in a tapping mode in fluid, the tip of the self-excited oscillating probe is sharpened under the grinding effect of the diamond particles. The method is simple and effective, and easy to implement.

A sharpening method for a probe tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) includes the steps of dripping a prepared slurry on a glass slide to form a droplet on the glass slide, where particles of the prepared slurry are diamond powder; infiltrating the tip to be sharpened with the prepared slurry; setting operation mode of the AFM to tapping in the fluid and lowering the probe into droplet till the probe cantilever beam is immersed completely in the droplet; setting vibration parameters, scanning parameters, and sharpening time, performing tip sharpening; and evaluating the sharpening results, and finishing sharpening. When the AFM works in a tapping mode in fluid, the tip of the self-excited oscillating probe is sharpened under the grinding effect of the diamond particles. The method is simple and effective, and easy to implement.

Methods and systems for subsurface imaging of nanostructures buried inside a plate shaped substrate are provided. An ultrasonic generator at a side face of the substrate is used to couple ultrasound waves (W) into an interior of the substrate. The interior has or forms a waveguide for propagating the ultrasound waves (W) in a direction (X) along a length of the substrate transverse to the side face. The nanostructures are imaged using an AFM tip to measure an effect (E) at the top surface caused by direct or indirect interaction of the ultrasound waves (W) with the buried nanostructures.

An atomic force microscopy device arranged for determining sub-surface structures in a sample comprises a scan head with a probe including a flexible carrier and a probe tip arranged on the flexible carrier. Therein an actuator applies an acoustic input signal to the probe and a tip position detector measures a motion of the probe tip relative to the scan head during scanning, and provides an output signal indicative of said motion, to be received and analyzed by a controller. At least an end portion of the probe tip tapers in a direction away from said flexible carrier towards an end of the probe tip. The end portion has a largest cross-sectional area Amax at a distance Dend from said end, the square root of the largest cross-sectional area Amax is at least 100 nm and the distance Dend is in the range of 0.2 to 2 the value of said square root.

A sharpening method for a probe tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) includes the steps of dripping a prepared slurry on a glass slide to form a droplet on the glass slide, where particles of the prepared slurry are diamond powder; infiltrating the tip to be sharpened with the prepared slurry; setting operation mode of the AFM to tapping in the fluid and lowering the probe into droplet till the probe cantilever beam is immersed completely in the droplet; setting vibration parameters, scanning parameters, and sharpening time, performing tip sharpening; and evaluating the sharpening results, and finishing sharpening. When the AFM works in a tapping mode in fluid, the tip of the self-excited oscillating probe is sharpened under the grinding effect of the diamond particles. The method is simple and effective, and easy to implement.

Method of determining an overlay error between device layers of a multilayer semiconductor device using an atomic force microscopy system, wherein the semiconductor device comprises a stack of device layers comprising a first patterned layer and a second patterned layer, and wherein the atomic force microscopy system comprises a probe tip, wherein the method comprises: moving the probe tip and the semiconductor device relative to each other for scanning of the surface; and monitoring motion of the probe tip with tip position detector during said scanning for obtaining an output signal; during said scanning, applying a first acoustic input signal to at least one of the probe or the semiconductor device; analyzing the output signal for mapping at least subsurface nanostructures below the surface of the semiconductor device; and determining the overlay error between the first patterned layer and the second patterned layer based on the analysis.

Method of determining an overlay error between device layers of a multilayer semiconductor device using an atomic force microscopy system, wherein the semiconductor device comprises a stack of device layers comprising a first patterned layer and a second patterned layer, and wherein the atomic force microscopy system comprises a probe tip, wherein the method comprises: moving the probe tip and the semiconductor device relative to each other for scanning of the surface; and monitoring motion of the probe tip with tip position detector during said scanning for obtaining an output signal; during said scanning, applying a first acoustic input signal to at least one of the probe or the semiconductor device; analyzing the output signal for mapping at least subsurface nanostructures below the surface of the semiconductor device; and determining the overlay error between the first patterned layer and the second patterned layer based on the analysis.

The present document relates to a anatomic force microscope comprising a probe comprising a probe tip configured to sense a sample disposed proximate to the probe tip, a detector to detect a deflection of the probe tip, an actuator coupled to the probe and configured to move the probe in a sense state with the sample at a predetermined force set point and a vibrator in communication with the sample to provide a vibration to the sample, the vibration comprising a modulation frequency, wherein the acoustic vibrator is configured to provide the vibration in a modulation period after an initial sense period without modulation and wherein the probe is moved during or after said modulation period to a successive sample position over said sample while moving the probe in a non-contact state.