Quasi-Paralleles Rasterkraftmikroskop

摘要

The invention relates to probe microscopy, especially scanning probe microscopy and related methods such as atomic force microscopy and other comparable methods. The invention specifically relates to an array with a plurality of preferably parallel scanner heads or probes that are each disposed on a flexible beam or cantilever. A cantilever array, that is an array of a plurality of flexible beams, each with associated detector and optionally actuator, is selectively operated by multiplexing in such a manner that the respective selected flexible beam is controlled and its signal is read by the detector and optionally processed while the remaining flexible beams are selectively maintained constant via their actuators, as far as available, by means of stored signals. Another aspect of the invention relates to the optimized integration of the flexible beams, optionally the multiplexer circuit(s) and the actuator or detector circuits into a common semiconductor structure (chip).