Improving the scan rate and image quality in tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy with piezoelectric shunt control

Author

Fairbairn, Matthew W. ; Moheimani, S. O Reza ; Fleming, Andrew J.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Univ. of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

fYear

2011

fDate

10-11 Nov. 2011

Firstpage

26

Lastpage

31

Abstract

The scan rate of tapping mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), when scanning in air, may be improved by reducing the quality (Q) factor of the micro-cantilever. Passive piezoelectric shunt control is implemented in the AFM by placing an electrical impedance in series with the cantilever tip oscillation circuit. This method is used to reduce the Q factor of a piezoelectric self actuating AFM micro-cantilever by a factor of 8. Experimental results demonstrate that scan rate and image quality may be improved significantly using this method.

Keywords

Q-factor; atomic force microscopy; cantilevers; electric impedance imaging; image scanners; micromechanical devices; oscillators; piezoelectric actuators; cantilever tip oscillation circuit; electrical impedance; image quality improvement; passive piezoelectric shunt control; piezoelectric self actuating AFM microcantilever; quality factor; scan rate improvement; tapping mode atomic force microscopy; Force; Impedance; Probes; Q factor; Shunt (electrical); Surfaces; Transfer functions;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Australian Control Conference (AUCC), 2011

Conference_Location

Melbourne, VIC

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9245-9

Type

conf

Filename

6114331