Scanning probe with digitised pulsed-force mode operation and real-time evaluation

摘要

A raster screen measurement process generates an image of a sample surface to a resolution of better than 1 laterally and 100 nm vertically, scanning point by point. The distance between the scanning probe and the sample surface is periodically adjusted to generate a force-time probe curve for each scanning point. The curve is digitized by an A/D converter, evaluated on-line in real-time and then stored together with the stream of data in the first part of a memory device. One or several characteristic force-time curves are determined for each scanning point from the real-time evaluation points. The stored, digitized force-time curves and an image of the sample are obtained from the scanning point characteristic variables.