An atomic force microscope equipped with an optical measurement device is disclosed. An atomic force microscope equipped with an optical measurement device which acquires characteristics of a surface of a measurement target by moving a probe along the surface of the measurement target while scanning the measurement target on an XY plane using an XY scanner for supporting the measurement target, includes: an optical measurement device including a lighting unit configured to allow light to enter the surface of the measurement target, and a detection unit configured to detect light reflected by the surface of the measurement target, the optical measurement device being configured to acquire the characteristics of the surface of the measurement target by the scanning by the XY scanner; and a control device configured to control an operation of the atomic force microscope and an operation of the optical measurement device.

Costs may be avoided and yields improved by applying scanning probe microscopy to substrates in the midst of an integrated circuit fabrication process sequence. Scanning probe microscopy may be used to provide conductance data. Conductance data may relate to device characteristics that are normally not available until the conclusion of device manufacturing. The substrates may be selectively treated to ameliorate a condition revealed by the data. Some substrates may be selectively discarded based on the data to avoid the expense of further processing. A process maintenance operation may be selectively carried out based on the data.

Costs may be avoided and yields improved by applying scanning probe microscopy to substrates in the midst of an integrated circuit fabrication process sequence. Scanning probe microscopy may be used to provide conductance data. Conductance data may relate to device characteristics that are normally not available until the conclusion of device manufacturing. The substrates may be selectively treated to ameliorate a condition revealed by the data. Some substrates may be selectively discarded based on the data to avoid the expense of further processing. A process maintenance operation may be selectively carried out based on the data.

A light emitting diode (LED) array is formed by bonding an LED substrate to a backplane substrate via fitted nanotube interconnects. The backplane substrate may include circuits for driving the LED array. The LED substrate may be a chip or wafer, and may include one or more LED devices. The LED substrate is positioned above the backplane substrate, such that a LED device of the LED substrate is aligned to a corresponding circuit in the backplane substrate. Each of the fitted interconnects electrically connect a LED device to the corresponding circuit of the backplane substrate.

A multi-functional scanning probe microscopy nanoprobe may include a cantilever, a tapered structure formed on a surface of the cantilever from a first material, and a nanopillar formed on an apex of the tapered structure from a second material. One of the first and second materials may exhibit ferromagnetism and the other may have greater electrical conductivity. A method of simultaneous multi-mode operation during scanning probe microscopy may include scanning a sample with the nanoprobe in contact with the sample to produce a current measurement indicative of an electric current flowing through the sample and a height measurement indicative of a topography of the sample and, thereafter, scanning the sample with the nanoprobe oscillating about a lift height derived from the height measurement to produce a deflection measurement (e.g. phase shift) indicative of a magnetic force between the sample and the nanoprobe.

A multi-functional scanning probe microscopy nanoprobe may include a cantilever, a tapered structure formed on a surface of the cantilever from a first material, and a nanopillar formed on an apex of the tapered structure from a second material. One of the first and second materials may exhibit ferromagnetism and the other may have greater electrical conductivity. A method of simultaneous multi-mode operation during scanning probe microscopy may include scanning a sample with the nanoprobe in contact with the sample to produce a current measurement indicative of an electric current flowing through the sample and a height measurement indicative of a topography of the sample and, thereafter, scanning the sample with the nanoprobe oscillating about a lift height derived from the height measurement to produce a deflection measurement (e.g. phase shift) indicative of a magnetic force between the sample and the nanoprobe.

Disclosed is an atomic force microscopy system includes a laser source configured to generate an optical probe beam containing light of different spectral light components at different optical wavelengths, a dispersive optical device positioned to receive the optical probe beam and configured to disperse the optical probe beam into different dispersed light beams that are at different optical wavelengths and are spatially separated from one another, a cantilever array including a plurality of cantilevers structured to detect a sample and configured to deflect the different dispersed light beams by moving in position based on an interaction with the sample to produce multiple deflected output beams at different output optical wavelengths from the cantilevers, and a plurality of photodetectors to receive the multiple deflected output beams of different wavelengths from the cantilevers, respectively.

Disclosed is an atomic force microscopy system includes a laser source configured to generate an optical probe beam containing light of different spectral light components at different optical wavelengths, a dispersive optical device positioned to receive the optical probe beam and configured to disperse the optical probe beam into different dispersed light beams that are at different optical wavelengths and are spatially separated from one another, a cantilever array including a plurality of cantilevers structured to detect a sample and configured to deflect the different dispersed light beams by moving in position based on an interaction with the sample to produce multiple deflected output beams at different output optical wavelengths from the cantilevers, and a plurality of photodetectors to receive the multiple deflected output beams of different wavelengths from the cantilevers, respectively.

A light emitting diode (LED) array is formed by bonding an LED substrate to a backplane substrate via magnetized interconnects. The backplane substrate may include circuits for driving the LED array, and each of the magnetized interconnects electrically connect a LED device to a corresponding circuit of the backplane substrate. The magnetized interconnects may be formed by electrically connecting first structures protruding from the backplane substrate to second structures protruding from the LED substrate. At least one of the first structure and the second structure includes ferromagnetic material configured to secure the first structure to the second structure.

A scanning probe microscope and method of operating the microscope uses a resonant material between a metallic probe tip and a surface of a sample with at least one material having a dielectric constant ε. When electromagnetic radiation from a light source is transmitted to an interface between the metallic probe tip and the sample, absorption of the electromagnetic radiation by the resonant sensor material that is dependent on the dielectric constant of the at least one material of the sample is detected.