摘要 |
A scanning probe microscope, in particular for near-field scanning optical, friction force and atomic force microscopy, comprises a tip piece attached to an oscillator of piezoelectric material. This oscillator is coupled to a further oscillator thereby forming a coupled oscillator arrangement. In a most preferred embodiment, the coupled oscillator arrangement is a quartz piezoelectric tuning fork. In use, the tip piece is vibrated relative to the sample. Tip-sample interaction strains the piezoelectric material and is measurable via contacts placed on the piezoelectric material which are responsive to the strain-induced piezoelectric charge. The coupled oscillator arrangement allows a large Q of several thousand or more to be realized. The microscope is easy to operate due to the purely electrical signal collection. The probe head can operate in vacuum, at cryogenic temperatures or in high magnetic fields. |