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:
May. 11, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 12, 2002
SII NanoTechnology Inc., Chiba, JP;
Abstract
A probe scanning device has a first tubular member extending in a z direction. A second tubular member has a rear end portion extending into the first tubular member to define a space between an inner peripheral surface portion of the first tubular member and an outer peripheral surface portion of the second tubular member. A probe tip is mounted on a front end portion of the second tubular member. A viscous material is disposed in the space between the first tubular member and the second tubular member. A moving mechanism reciprocally moves the first tubular member in an xy direction, and a voice coil motor drives the second tubular member towards the first tubular member in the z direction. A drive mechanism has a coarse adjustment mode for coarsely moving the probe tip toward a surface of a sample and a measurement mode for fine movement of the probe tip in the z direction to maintain a given relationship between relative positions of the probe tip and the sample surface after coarse movement. A connecting mechanism selectively integrally connects the first tubular member and the second tubular member to one another.