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. 29, 2002
Filed:
May. 17, 2000
Yoshihito Narita, Tokyo, JP;
Hideho Hisada, Tokyo, JP;
Tatsuya Miyajima, Tokyo, JP;
Osamu Saito, Tokyo, JP;
Shinichiro Watanabe, Tokyo, JP;
Shinya Saito, Tokyo, JP;
Koji Akutsu, Tokyo, JP;
Susumu Teruyama, Tokyo, JP;
Motoichi Ohtsu, Kanagawa, JP;
Other;
Abstract
In a probe microscope for causing a sample and a tip portion of a probe on the sample side to approach each other, detecting an interaction between the sample and the sample-side probe tip portion , and obtaining surface information of the sample from the interaction, the probe being a flexible needle-like probe; the probe microscope comprises vibrating means capable of rotating the probe while flexing the sample-side tip portion thereof so as to draw a circle having a size corresponding to an increase and decrease in the interaction between the sample surface and the tip portion , and detecting means for detecting the increase and decrease in the size of the circle drawn by the sample-side probe tip portion due to the interaction and obtaining, from the increase and decrease in the size of the circle, information about the distance between the sample and the sample-side probe tip portion