A Scanning Probe Microscope for Surface Measurement in Nano-Scale.

A tapping mode scanning probe microscopy (TM SPM) system for surface measurement in nanoscale is developed, of which the main element is a scanning probe consisting of quartz tuning fork and a long sharp tungsten tip. Quartz tuning fork is a very good resonant element with piezoelectrical characteristic, and it acts as an actuator and a force sensor simultaneously in the probe. The vertical spatial resolution of the TM SPM is up to sub-nanometer (0.11 nm) and the measuring force is in micro Newton magnitude (about 30 μN). In the scanning operation, the probe vibrates at its resonant frequency, so that the amplitude or frequency (or phase) of the resonant tuning fork is very sensitive to external forces (Its quality factor in air is about 3138). Using the TM SPM constructed by this probe, silicon samples are scanned. Their topography and phase images which indicate the surface material characteristics are reconstructed effectively with a high resolution and low destructiveness. Soft materials, such as Protein structure can also be scanned theoretically without damage. In addition, because of the using of the long sharp tungsten tip, the system has the capacity of measuring micro structures with large aspect ratio, such as large micro steps, deep micro trenches, etc.