AFM pickup head with holographic optical element (HOE)

This paper proposes a new developed AFM pickup head by using the holographic optical element (HOE) for the atomic force microscope. The holographic optical element is very compact and has been applied in the DVD-pickup head with a stable and precise sensing performance. By comparison with the optical lever method of the ordinary AFM, the holographic optical element makes AFM an easy optical adjustment and a compact configuration. Through this miniaturizing and easy adjusting progress, AFM can also open wider application field. In this paper, we present the development and its performance of the new developed HOE-AFM, which is experimentally verified that it can realize nanometer resolution through measuring the calibration grating and the graphite specimen.