TERMIUM Plus®

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LASER FORCE MICROSCOPE [1 record]

Record 1 2014-06-16

English

Subject field(s)
  • Scientific Instruments
  • Optics
CONT

Laser force microscope senses topography by moving a tungsten or silicon probe across a sample (typically a microelectronic component) at a height of a few nanometers. The tip is set vibrating at close to its resonance frequency. Attractive forces ... called van der Waals attractions and the surface tension of water that condenses between tip and sample, pull on the tip, changing its resonance frequency and so reducing its vibration amplitude. The variation in the forces, and hence in tip travel, reveals surface relief. A laser probe tracks the tip by means of a beam that is split into two. One of the beams is reflected through a stationary prism; the other passes through a Bragg cell --a device that shifts the beam's frequency-- and is reflected from the back of the probe. The beams are recombined, and their interference produces a signal (at the Bragg-cell frequency) that measures the tip vibration.

PHR

Scanning laser force microscope.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Instruments scientifiques
  • Optique

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Instrumentos científicos
  • Óptica
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