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:
Feb. 15, 2011
Filed:
May. 29, 2008
Haiwon Lee, Seoul, KR;
Chung Choo Chung, Seoul, KR;
Cheolsu Han, Suwon-si, KR;
Abstract
Disclosed herein are an automatic landing method for a scanning probe microscope and an automatic landing apparatus using the same. The method comprises irradiating light to a cantilever using a light source; collecting interference fringes generated by the light being diffracted from the edge of the cantilever and then being incident to a surface of the sample; driving the tip in the sample direction until the pattern of the interference fringes reaches a predetermined pattern region (first driving); and driving the tip in the sample direction after the interference fringe pattern reached the predetermined pattern region (second driving). The method in accordance with the present invention is very effective particularly for samples having a large surface area, because it enables automatic landing of a tip according to recognition and selection of an optimal time point for individual landing steps, irrespective of adverse changes in landing conditions, such as surface irregularities of samples. Further, the present invention enables a very inexpensive and effective application of a scanning probe microscope (SPM), because it is possible to achieve rapid and reliable driving of a tip to within an approximate distance of a sample.