DocumentCode :
1350752
Title :
Author :
Fairbairn, Matthew W. ; Moheimani, S.O.R. ; Fleming, Andrew J.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Univ. of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Volume :
20
Issue :
6
fYear :
2011
Firstpage :
1372
Lastpage :
1381
Abstract :
The scan rate and image resolution of the atomic force microscope (AFM) operating in tapping-mode may be im proved by modifying the quality (Q) factor of the AFM micro cantilever according to the sample type and imaging environment. Piezoelectric shunt control is a new method of controlling the Q factor of a piezoelectric self-actuating AFM microcantilever. The mechanical damping of the microcantilever is controlled by an electrical impedance placed in series with the tip oscillation circuit. A synthetic impedance was designed to allow easy modification of the control parameters which may vary with environmental conditions. The proposed techniques are experimentally demonstrated to reduce the Q factor of an AFM microcantilever from 297.6 to 35.5. AFM images obtained using this method show significant improvement in both scan rate and image quality.
Keywords :
atomic force microscopy; cantilevers; imaging; micromechanical devices; oscillations; piezoelectricity; AFM images; atomic force microscope microcantilever; image quality; image resolution; mechanical damping; piezoelectric self-actuating AFM microcantilever; piezoelectric shunt control; scan rate; sensorless approach; tapping-mode; tip oscillation circuit; Atomic force microscopy; Cantilevers; Microscopy; Piezoelectric devices; Q factor; Transfer functions; AFM probe; Atomic force microscope (AFM); microcantilevers; microsensors; piezoelectric cantilever; piezoelectric shunt control; synthetic impedance; tapping-mode AFM;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
1057-7157
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/JMEMS.2011.2168809
Filename :
6046089
Link To Document :
