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. 10, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 26, 2007
Roger Proksch, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Jason Cleveland, Ventura, CA (US);
Dan Bocek, Goleta, CA (US);
Todd Day, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Mario B. Viani, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Clint Callahan, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Roger Proksch, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Jason Cleveland, Ventura, CA (US);
Dan Bocek, Goleta, CA (US);
Todd Day, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Mario B. Viani, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Clint Callahan, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Asylum Research Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Abstract
A controller for cantilever-based instruments, including atomic force microscopes, molecular force probe instruments, high-resolution profilometers and chemical or biological sensing probes. The controller samples the output of the photo-detector commonly used to detect cantilever deflection in these instruments with a very fast analog/digital converter (ADC). The resulting digitized representation of the output signal is then processed with field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors without making use of analog electronics. Analog signal processing is inherently noisy while digital calculations are inherently 'perfect' in that they do not add any random noise to the measured signal. Processing by field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors maximizes the flexibility of the controller because it can be varied through programming means, without modification of the controller hardware.