Phase Controlled Scanning Force Microscope

Abstract
A noncontact scanning force microscope employing a novel tip height control system using phase lock technology has been developed. An oscillator using a cantilever as a mechanical resonator is used as a voltage controlled oscillator in a phase locked loop, and its output signal is phase locked to a high-precision signal source. Its most remarkable feature is that this tip height control is unconditionally stable. Thus, it was possible to realize the desired system response by adjusting the loop parameters. Its efficiency was demonstrated by imaging the surface of a magneto-optical disk at the lowest tip height which was impossible to achieve with a conventional servo technology.

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