Scanning-type probe microscope

TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed to obtain high detection sensitivity without fixing a probe and a piezoelectric body in one piece by flexibly pinching the probe with first and second elastic bodies.

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain high detection sensitivity without fixing a probe and a piezoelectric body in one piece by flexibly pinching the probe with first and second elastic bodies and allowing the first elastic body to have a piezoelectric body. SOLUTION: In an elastic body 201 for pinching a probe 101 flexibly, a piezoelectric body 202 is formed on a surface, and an elastic body 206 also plays a role of a vibrator. A probe 101 that is excited up and down in the elastic body 206 is bent and vibrated with a part in contact with the elastic body 201 as a support, and at the same time the elastic body 201 causes bending deformation with the contact part as a pressure cone apex since compliance is large. Therefore, at the moment when the probe 101 moves up and down, the elastic body 201 is bent and deformed in a peripheral direction, the piezoelectric body 202 expands and contracts to generate a bipolar voltage. In this case, when the frequency of the elastic body 206 is swept, the vibration amplitude of the probe 101 increases closer to a mechanical, natural frequency. As the amplitude increases, the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric body 202 also increases and a generated voltage increases. By monitoring the change in the generated voltage, the resonance characteristics of the probe 101 can be detected.