Mechanical stage support for a scanning tunneling microscope

Abstract

The present invention is an improved mechanism for the coarse adjustment of a scanning tunneling microscope stage. In the present invention the stage is moved by forces transmitted through rigid wire springs mounted on leaf spring assemblies which transmit the motion from rigidly mounted micrometer adjusting devices. It is intended that the coarse adjustment mechanism of the present invention will provide improved performance over coarse adjustment mechanisms presently available for STM applications. The present invention replaces separate sets of leaf springs for X and Y motion with a single set of four wire springs. This simplifies the design and increases the rigidity and stability by reducing the mechanical path length from the solid base to the X-Y-Z stage. The screw mechanisms are all directly connected to the rigid base. (This is made possible by the additional pairs of wire springs connected from the X and Y screws to the stage.) The following advantages are achieved: first, since the screw mechanisms do not move with the stage, driving mechanisms such as motors and gears can be simply connected; and, second, the rigidity and stability are again increased since the stage position is referenced directly to the base through all three screws rather than through intermediate support structures.