Acoustic screen scan microscope for the examination of an object in the short-range field of a resonant acoustic oscillator

US5212987A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hommelwerke GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Klaus Dransfeld · Kreuzlingen, CH
• Ulrich Fischer · Ditzingen, DE
• Peter Guethner · Konstanz, DE
• Knut Heitmann · Wetzlar, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 15, 1991
• Grant date: May 25, 1993
• Expiry date: Nov 15, 2011

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S977/881
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An acoustic scanning microscope uses damping of a resonant acoustic oscillator and an acoustic near-field effect. In a preferred embodiment, a 32 KHz tuning fork serving as an acoustic oscillator with a 50 nm point achieves a vertical resolution of 5 nm and a horizontal resolution of 50 nm in the case of a minimum distance of approximately 50 nm. Frequency or amplitude variation of the resonant acoustic oscillator can be used. The acoustic near-field effect is dependent on the coupling medium, e.g., air, and the pressure, e.g., normal pressure.