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. 12, 1997
Filed:
Aug. 10, 1995
Katsushi Nakano, Kawasaki, JP;
Tetsuji Onuki, Yokohama, JP;
Nikon Corporation, , JP;
Abstract
An apparatus includes an X-direction piezoelectric driving member expandable in the X direction upon application of a voltage, and a Y-direction piezoelectric driving member expandable in the Y direction upon application of a voltage. One end of the X-direction piezoelectric driving member is flexibly connected to a frame via a hinge, and the other end of the member is firmly connected to a block. One end of the Y-direction piezoelectric driving member is flexibly connected to the frame via a hinge, and the other end of the member is flexibly connected to the block via a hinge. A probe can be scanned by using this scanning mechanism without causing much fluctuations of the optical axis of a light beam used for the atomic force microscope.