The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 20, 1990
Filed:
Oct. 13, 1988
Shigeo Okayama, Ibaragi, JP;
Hiroshi Tokumoto, Ibaragi, JP;
Hiroshi Bando, Ibaragi, JP;
Wataru Mizutani, Ibaragi, JP;
Masayuki Shimura, Saitama, JP;
Haruki Nakagawa, Saitama, JP;
Masatsugu Shigeno, Tokyo, JP;
Kazutoshi Watanabe, Tokyo, JP;
Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Kosaka Laboratory Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Seiko Instruments Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A probe is shifted at a distance where the probe and a material to be obsed are sufficiently far away from each other relative to the roughness of the material's surface. This method prevents the probe from colliding with the material's surface during the shift of the probe thereby enabling high speed shift of the probe. Further, a micro-drive mechanism for controlling tunnel currents may be stopped during the shift in order to minimize the drift which may be caused by heat generated inside the micro-drive mechanism. Therefore, it is particularly advantageous to apply this STM measuring method for high-speed and stable measurement of a very large surface area and a very rough surface.