Atomic force microscope system with multi-directional voice coil actuator for controlling the stylus
US5804710A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 5, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 8, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 5, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S977/872
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An atomic force microscope (AFM) system has a bidirectional actuator to move the AFM tip or stylus in a plane parallel to the surface of the sample to be scanned as well as perpendicularly to the surface of the sample. The actuator is a modified voice coil motor actuator of the type used in compact disc (CD) drives. The stylus is mounted at the end of a support arm that is held in the actuator by a flexure, the flexure permitting movement in the two directions. A set of permanent magnets and two sets of independently controllable electric coils allow the support arm to be moved in the two directions. In a data storage application, a data disk has a series of surface features that represent machine-readable data and the bidirectional actuator is supported by a secondary actuator that moves the primary actuator along a radius of the disk. This allows the bidirectional actuator with the attached stylus to be located to a coarse position within a desired band of data tracks. Tracking control circuitry connected to one set of coils allows the stylus to be maintained on a specific data track within a band and moved to other tracks Within the band. Load control circuitry connected to the …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.