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:
Aug. 06, 1996
Filed:
Oct. 21, 1994
Hirofumi Miyamoto, Niiza, JP;
Mitsugu Sakai, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsumori Hayashida, Tokyo, JP;
Nobuaki Sakai, Tokyo, JP;
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A scanning probe microscope having a probe for scanning a sample, a piezoelectric unit finely movable in the X, Y and Z directions, and a probe control unit for controlling a fine movement amount of the piezoelectric unit in the Z direction in accordance with a detected interaction between the sample and the probe. A driving unit applies a continuously changing voltage to the piezoelectric unit to drive the piezoelectric unit in one of an X and Y direction to scan along a scan line, a displacement detection unit detects the displacement of the piezoelectric unit along the scan line, and a matching detection unit outputs a coincidence detection signal when the detected displacement of the piezoelectric unit along the scan line coincides with target displacement values corresponding to desired measurement points. A surface data acquiring unit acquires sample surface data based on the Z-directional fine movement amount of the piezoelectric unit each time the matching detection unit outputs a coincidence detection signal.