Sii Nanotechnology Inc.

Seiko Instruments Inc

Aoi Electronics Co., Ltd.

Takeshi Umemoto

Masatoshi Yasutake

Hiroshi Muramatsu

Akira Inoue

Masato Suzuki

Masafumi Watanabe

Akihiko Honma

Yukihiro Sato

Norio Ookubo

Tatsuya Kobayashi

AFM tweezers that include a first probe, including a triangular prism member having a tip of a ridge which is usable as a probe tip in a scanning probe microscope, and a second probe, including a triangular prism member provided so as to open/close with respect to the first probe, are provided. The first probe and the second probe are juxtaposed such that a predetermined peripheral surface of the triangular prism member of the first probe and a predetermined peripheral surface of the triangular prism member of the second probe face substantially in parallel to each other, and the first probe formed of a notch that prevents interference with a sample when the sample is scanned by the tip of the ridge.

AFM tweezers, method for producing AFM tweezers, and scanning probe microscope

There is provided a sample manipulating apparatus which is an apparatus for manipulating a sample mounted on a substrate surface, in which at least position data and shape data are acquired by observing the sample. Thereafter, tweezers are positioned by moving means such that the sample is positioned between an observing probe and a grasping probe based on the two set of data. After positioning, a height of the tweezers is set to a position of being remote from the substrate surface by a constant distance by moving means while monitoring a result of measurement by displacement measuring means. Thereafter, the grasping probe is moved to a side of the observing probe while monitoring the result of measurement by the displacement measuring means at the set height and the sample is grasped while detecting a grasping start point.

Sample manipulating apparatus

To realize to adapt to a shape of a surface, shorten a measurement time period and promote a measurement accuracy by setting a sampling interval in accordance with a slope of the shape of the surface and controlling a stylus in accordance with the interval, there is provided a scanning probe microscope, in which in scanning the stylus, an observation data immediately therebefore is stored as a history, the sampling interval in X or Y direction is set at each time based on a shape of the observation data, and the stylus is scanned to a successive sampling position.

Scanning probe microscope and scanning method

There is provided a sample operation apparatus in which, by a static electricity force acting between a probe and a sample, an accurate position is gripped without the sample being moved, and the sample can be operated by the probe for an observation, a grip, a release, or the like. In a casing body capable of being sealed, there are installed a sample operation tweezers comprising an observation probe and a grip probe, and a sample base fixing a substrate on which the sample is mounted. By the facts that a surface of the substrate is treated such that its hydrophilic nature is higher than the sample operation tweezers, and that a humidity in the casing body is controlled by a humidity control device, there is made such that an actuation of a grip, a movement, a separation or the like of the sample is performed under a state in which water films are formed on the sample, the substrate and a surface of the sample operation tweezers.

Sample operation apparatus

There is provided a sample operation apparatus in which, by a static electricity force acting between a probe and a sample, an accurate position is gripped without the sample being moved, and the sample can be operated by the probe for an observation, a grip, a release, or the like. There is made such that an AC electric source applying an AC voltage to an observation probe having in its tip and a bias electric source applying a DC voltage are connected, a bias electric source applying the DC voltage a grip probe adjoining the observation probe is possessed, there is relatively moved by a scanner in a plane (XY) direction in regard to a substrate fixed to a sample base, a vibration of the observation probe, which occurs by a static electricity between the tip and the substrate or the sample on the substrate, or the like, is detected by a lock-in amplifier through a displacement detection means, there is applied to the observation probe by the bias electric source such that the vibration becomes small by a feedback circuit, and there is applied also to the grip probe similarly by the bias electric source.

A scanning probe microscope comprises a cantilever having a probe at an end portion thereof. A scanning signal generating device generates a main scanning signal and a sub-scanning signal. A main scanning device scans the probe along a main scanning direction over a sample surface in accordance with the main scanning signal. A sub-scanning device scans the probe along a sub-scanning direction over the sample surface in accordance with the sub-scanning signal. A Z-direction fine moving device moves the probe in a fine movement in the Z direction with respect to the sample surface maintains the probe at a predetermined distance from the sample surface. At least two of the main scanning device, the sub-scanning device, and the Z-direction fine moving device comprise voice coil motors. Each of the voice coil motors has a stator having a groove and a movable member extending into the groove for undergoing movement therein. A viscous fluid is disposed in the groove of the stator of each voice coil motor for attenuating Q of a resonant vibration thereof.

Scanning probe microscope

A scanning probe microscope for scanning a probe needle in proximity to a surface of a sample in XY-axis directions while moving at least one of the probe and the sample in a Z-axis direction has a plurality of band-pass filters for passing a plurality of band-pass signals by extracting predetermined frequency bands different one another from a surface geometry signal output by a probe. An image memory stores the respective band-pass signals and corresponding positions on the sample surface, and a color image outputting device outputs a color image by treating each of the respective band-pass signals stored as image data in the image memory as different color data and combining the data. The plurality of band-pass signals includes a first band-pass signal having a first frequency range set to include only abrupt transitions in the sample surface and a second band-pass signal having a second frequency range set to include frequencies slightly outside the first frequency range so that abrupt transitions in geometry on the sample surface are represented by a first color in response to the first band-pass signal and areas directly adjacent the abrupt transitions on the sample surface are represented by a second color different from the first color.

A scanning type near field interatomic force microscope of the type having a hook-shaped probe formed of a light transmitting material and having a sharpened tip portion with a transmitting hole for transmitting light, the probe being disposed over and moved relative to a sample surface for simultaneously measuring the shape of the surface of the sample and the optical characteristics of a minute region of the surface of the sample by scanning over the surface of the sample under a state in which the distance between the tip portion of the probe and the surface of the sample is within an operation distance in which an interatomic force acts between the tip portion of the probe and the surface of the sample. A quartz oscillator is attached to a shaft portion of the probe and has electrodes. A detection circuit detects a change in the resonance characteristics of the oscillator caused by the interatomic force acting between the tip portion of the probe and the surface of the sample. An XYZ scanner is used for maintaining a constant distance between the tip portion of the probe and the surface of the sample on the basis of a detection signal outputted from the detection circuit.

Growing community of inventors

Chiba, Japan

Takeshi Umemoto