The present invention relates to a method for acquiring a surface characteristic of a measuring object using a tilted tip, an atomic force microscope for carrying out the method, and a computer program stored on a storage medium for carrying out the method, capable of acquiring an image deeply to the inside of an undercut structure and easily separating a tip from the inside of the undercut structure. The method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method for acquiring a surface characteristic of a measuring object using a measuring device including a tip interacting with the surface of the measuring object. The method includes a normal measuring step of acquiring a surface characteristic of the measuring object while relatively moving the tip in a first direction with respect to the surface of the measuring object using a first control method, a separating step of controlling the tip to deviate from an abnormal state by a second control method set based on a predefined shape of the surface of the measuring object when it is determined as the abnormal state in which at least one characteristic value obtained by the tip is out of a specific range during the normal measuring step, and a step of performing the normal measuring step again after the separating step.

A scanning probe microscope and method for resonance-enhanced detection using the scanning probe microscope uses a light source that is modulated in a range of frequencies to irradiate an interface between a probe tip of the microscope and a sample with modulated electromagnetic radiation from the light source. The vibrational response of the driven cantilever in response to the modulated electromagnetic radiation at the interface between the probe tip and the sample is then detected. The amplitude of the vibrational response of the cantilever over the entire range of modulation frequencies is measured to derive a photo-induced force microscope (PiFM) value.

A method of scanning a sample with a scanning probe system, the scanning probe system comprising a probe comprising a cantilever extending from a base to a free end, and a probe tip carried by the free end of the cantilever, the method comprising using the probe to measure an electrostatic interaction between the sample and the probe; and after measuring the electrostatic interaction between the sample and the probe, scanning the sample with the probe while simultaneously applying a bias voltage to the scanning probe system, the applied bias voltage based on the measured electrostatic interaction between the sample and the probe.

A method includes scanning a probe laterally across a surface so that the probe follows a scanning motion across the surface and steering a detection beam onto the probe via a steering mirror, the detection beam reflecting from the probe in the form of a return beam. The method also includes moving the steering mirror so that the detection beam follows a tracking motion which is synchronous with the scanning motion and the detection beam remains steered onto the probe by the steering mirror and using the return beam to obtain image measurements, each indicative of a measured height of a respective point on the surface. An associated height error measurement is obtained for each point on the surface, each measurement being indicative of a respective error in the measured height. The height error measurements are used to correct the image measurements so as to generate corrected image measurements.

The present invention relates to a device for operating at least one bending beam in at least one closed control loop, wherein the device has: (a) at least one first interface designed to receive at least one controlled variable of the at least one control loop; (b) at least one programmable logic circuit designed to process a control error of the at least one control loop using a bit depth greater than the bit depth of the controlled variable; and (c) at least one second interface designed to provide a manipulated variable of the at least one control loop.

In the system and method disclosed, an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip is used to selectively desorb hydrogen atoms from the Si(100)-2X1:H surface by injecting electrons at a negative sample bias voltage. A new lithography method is disclosed that allows the STM to operate under imaging conditions and simultaneously desorb H atoms as required. A high frequency signal is added to the negative sample bias voltage to deliver the required energy for hydrogen removal. The resulted current at this frequency and its harmonics are filtered to minimize their effect on the operation of the STM's feedback loop. This approach offers a significant potential for controlled and precise removal of hydrogen atoms from a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface and thus may be used for the fabrication of practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices.

An atomic force microscope is provided having a controller configured to store one or more positional parameters output by a sensor assembly when a light spot is located at a first preset position on the surface of the cantilever. The controller is further configured to operate an actuator assembly so as to induce movement of the spot away from the first preset position, to detect said movement of the first spot based on a change in the one or more positional parameters output by the sensor assembly, and to operate an optical assembly in response to the detected movement of the first spot to return the first spot to the first preset position.

Method for positioning and orienting a first object relative to a second object. The method includes positioning a near field transducer having an aperture on the first object, and directing a laser light toward the aperture of the near field transducer on the first object to create an effervescent wave on the other side of the aperture. Positioning a sensor on the second object for detecting the effervescent wave from the near field transducer. Providing an algorithm, and using information obtained from the sensor on the second object in the algorithm to control a nanopositioning system to position one of the first object and the second object in a desired position and orientation relative to the other one of the first object and the second object.

There may be provided an evaluation system that may include spatial sensors that include atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and a solid immersion lens. The AFMs are arranged to generate spatial relationship information that is indicative of a spatial relationship between the solid immersion lens and a substrate. The controller is arranged to receive the spatial relationship information and to send correction signals to the at least one location correction element for introducing a desired spatial relationship between the solid immersion lens and the substrate.

An apparatus and method of operating an atomic force profiler (AFP), such as an AFM, using a feedforward control signal in subsequent scan lines of a large area sample to achieve large throughput advantages in, for example, automated applications.