Abstract
In scanning probe microscopy, the various types of force interaction probe sensors are used. Silicon cantilevers with optical registration of their deflection under the influence of force interaction with the surface under study are the most widespread. Also “self-sensing” probe sensors based on a silicon cantilever or piezo tubes using piezoresistive or piezoresonance principle for measuring their deflection, respectively, are known. In this work a “self-sensing” piezoresonance probe sensor was investigated. The sensor is a piezo tube, at the free end of which a W needle with a length of several millimeters is fixed. It is generally assumed that the spatial resolution of SPM probe sensors is due to the radius of the sphere at the apex of the needle tip. However, in the oscillatory modes of scanning probe microscopy operation the “spot” of the probe’s contact with the sample can be blurred, impairing the spatial resolution. In this paper the amplitude-frequency characteristic of the piezo-tube – W needle system and the size of the effective contact spot of the probe with the sample were calculated by finite element method. The calculation results are compared with the experimental frequency response curve.
Publisher
The Russian Academy of Sciences