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:
Oct. 30, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 04, 1998
David Braunstein, Campbell, CA (US);
Michael Kirk, San Jose, CA (US);
Quoc Ly, San Jose, CA (US);
Thai Nguyen, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
ThermoMicroscopes Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Scanning probe microscopes and scanning probe heads are provided having improved optical visualization and sample manipulation capabilities. The SPMs and SPM heads include at least one flexure stage for scanning in the x, y and/or z directions. In a preferred embodiment, the SPMs or SPM heads include flexure stages for scanning in the x, y and z directions. The z scanning stage is preferably positioned outside the lateral footprint of the x-y flexure stage so that a probe extending from the z scanning stage is outside the lateral footprint of the instrument. The SPMs and SPM heads are configured to provide top down and bottom up optical views of the sample and/or the probe and enable simultaneous scanning probe microscopy and optical imaging of a sample to be performed. The SPMs and SPM heads are designed to be readily combinable with existing upright and inverted optical microscopes currently available from various major manufacturers.