Operation of an alternative near-field optical microscope is presented. The microscope uses a microfabricated silicon-nitride probe with integrated cantilever, as originally developed for force microscopy. The cantilever allows routine close contact near-field imaging on arbitrary surfaces without tip destruction. The effect of adhesion forces on the coupling to the evanescent wave has been obs...

A novel preamplifying cantilever (PCL) design for scanning probe microscopes (SPM) that is capable of mechanically amplifying specimen movements is presented. The sample motions in both out-of-plane and in-plane directions are amplified by the PCL. The spatial resolution of the cantilever is in the nanometer scale and is comparable with existing SPM cantilevers. Some of the proposed application...

We study theoretically the interaction between the charge dynamics of a few-electron double quantum dot and a capacitively coupled atomic force microscopy cantilever, a setup realized in several recent experiments. We demonstrate that the dot-induced frequency shift and damping of the cantilever can be used as a sensitive probe of coherent interdot tunneling, and that these effects can be used ...

Quantitative force measurements performed using the atomic force microscope AFM inherently rely on calibration of the AFM cantilever spring constant to convert the measured deflection into a force. Here, we examine the effect of cantilever tilt and induced torque on the effective normal spring constant resulting from variable placement of the tip probe, as is frequently encountered in practice....

Micro-cantilever arrays with different dimensions are fabricated by micromachining technique onto silicon <1 0 0> substrate. These sputtered Gold-Coated micro-cantilevers were later surface functionalized. Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and Optical SWLI using LASER probe are employed to characterize the morphology and image measurement of the micro-cantilever arrays, resp...

Abstract Superlubricity provides a novel approach to addressing friction and wear issues in mechanical systems. However, little is known regarding improving the atomic force microscope (AFM) coefficient measurement resolution. Accordingly, this study established theoretical formula for AFM deduced Then, was applied probe with rectangular cross-section cantilever. The resolution associated dimen...

INTRODUCTION: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are fabricated with an in-plane fabrication technology. Out-of-plane structures can be designed to be assembled to provide thermal and electrical isolation from the substrate [1 -3]. These isolations can potentially improve the performance of a range of MEMS devices by decreasing any unwanted coupling effects or parasitic losses from the dev...