Abstract
A new tip height control system for noncontact scanning force microscope (SFM) utilizing the phase-lock technology is proposed. Its most extensive feature is that the system is unconditionally stable whereas the conventional control systems have difficulties in stability especially when the tip is at close proximity to the sample surface. In this new system, an oscillator using the cantilever as a mechanical resonator is used as a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) in a phase-locked loop. Its output signal phase is locked to a high precision frequency source. The force gradient detected by the cantilever equivalently alters the VCO control voltage, which is detected as a compensational signal of the loop filter output. The phase-lock technique made it possible to reduce the tip height to an extent which was impossible with the conventional servo technology. Thus this new control technique is expected to be effective in improving the resolution of the noncontact SFM.
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