Automated parallel high-speed atomic force microscopy

Date
1998-05-04
Authors
Minne, S. C.
Yaralioglu, G.
Manalis, S. R.
Adams, J. D.
Zesch, J.
Atalar, Abdullah
Quate, C. F.
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Source Title
Applied Physics Letters
Print ISSN
0003-6951
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Publisher
A I P Publishing LLC
Volume
72
Issue
18
Pages
2340 - 2342
Language
English
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Abstract

An expandable system has been developed to operate multiple probes for the atomic force microscope in parallel at high speeds. The combined improvements from parallelism and enhanced tip speed in this system represent an increase in throughput by over two orders of magnitude. A modular cantilever design has been replicated to produce an array of 50 cantilevers with a 200 μm pitch. This design contains a dedicated integrated sensor and integrated actuator where the cells can be repeated indefinitely. Electrical shielding within the array virtually eliminates coupling between the actuators and sensors. The reduced coupling simplifies the control electronics, facilitating the design of a computer system to automate the parallel high-speed arrays. This automated system has been applied to four cantilevers within the array of 50 cantilevers, with a 20 kHz bandwidth and a noise level of less than 50 Å. For typical samples, this bandwidth allows us to scan the probes at 4 mm/s.

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