Patent · US Expired

Technique for canceling the effect of external vibration on an atomic force microscope

US5206702A · kind A · utility

30Cited by
3References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 3, 1990
Grant dateApr 27, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 3, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S977/87
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A light beam from a light source is divided into two beams by a polarized beam splitter. The beam is reflected by a mirror, is converted into a P-polarized beam by a 1/4 .lambda. plate, passes through the beam splitter, is reflected by prisms, passes through a polarized beam splitter, is reflected by a mirror, is converted into a S-polarized beam by a 1/4 .lambda. plate, is reflected by the beam splitter, and is finally incident on a detector. The beam is converted into a S-polarized beam by a 1/2 .lambda. plate, is reflected by a polarized beam splitter, is reflected by the upper face of a cantilever supporting a probe, passes through a polarized beam splitter, is reflected twice in a prism, passes through the beam splitter, is reflected again by the cantilever, is converted into a S-polarized beam by a 1/4 .lambda. plate, is reflected by the beam splitter, is converted into a P-polarized beam by a 1/2 .lambda. plate, passes through the beam splitter, and is finally incident on the detector. The detector outputs the displacement of the cantilever from the optical path difference of the beams Lr and Lt.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.