Strong confinement of charges in few-electron systems such as in atoms, molecules, and quantum dots leads to a spectrum of discrete energy levels often shared by several degenerate states. Because the electronic structure is key to understanding their chemical properties, methods that probe these energy levels in situ are important. We show how electrostatic force detection using atomic force m...

Scanning probe lithography (SPL) is a promising candidate approach for desktop nanofabrication, but trade-offs in throughput, cost, and resolution have limited its application. The recent development of cantilever-free scanning probe arrays has allowed researchers to define nanoscale patterns in a low-cost and high-resolution format, but with the limitation that these are duplication tools wher...

Atomic force microscope (AFM) tip-based nanomachining is currently the object of intense research investigations. Values of the load applied to the tip at the free end of the AFM cantilever probe used for nanomachining are always large enough to induce plastic deformation on the specimen surface contrary to the small load values used for the conventional contact mode AFM imaging. This study des...

The atomic force microscope is an instrument that is widely used in fields such as biology, chemistry and medicine for imaging at the atomic level. In this work, we consider a specific mode of AFM usage, known as the dynamic mode where the AFM cantilever probe is forced sinusoidally. In the absence of interaction with the sample being imaged, the cantilever follows a predictable sinusoidal traj...

Since its introduction in 1986 as a tool for imaging and creating three-dimensional micrographs with resolution down to the nanometer and angstrom scales, the scanning probe microscope (SPM) has increasingly been acclaimed as a quantitative probe of surface forces such as adhesion. The SPM is able to study these important parameters using a technique that measures forces on the probe as it appr...

The atomic force microscope (AFM) has become an essential tool for imaging the surface topography of conductors and insulators on a microand nanoscale level [1]. In addition, AFM has also been powerful in nanomachining [2]. Cracks may occur in the AFM cantilever during the nanomachining experiments or in the fabrication of cantilever. The cantilever with cracks will affect its performance in us...

The atomic force microscope (AFM) has become an essential tool for the measurement of surface characteristics of diverse materials on a microand nanoscale level [1]. The resolution of measurements for the AFM cantilever is related to its vibration sensitivity. Many researchers have much interest in studying the resonant frequency and sensitivity analysis of AFM cantilevers [2 4]. Cracks may be ...

This letter reports the design, fabrication, and testing of a multifunctional scanning probe array for nanoscale imaging and patterning. The probe array consists of multiple cantilever probes, with each probe being able to perform a dedicated function such as scanning probe lithography (e.g., dip pen nanolithography and scanning probe contact printing) or scanning probe microscopy (e.g., atomic...

We present an optical technique to detect cantilever deflection of an array using Fraunhofer diffraction patterns. Application areas include probe-based data storage. Intensity profiles of different cantilever arrays are captured on a CCD camera and compared with our model. These measurements are in excellent agreement with the Fraunhofer theory, less than 3% deviation is found. Each cantilever...

nowadays, atomic force microscope is considered as a useful tool in the determination of intermolecular forces and surface topography with the resolution of nanometers. in this kind of microscope, micro cantilever is considered as the heart of the microscope and is used as a measuring tool.  this paper is aimed towards investigating the behavior of a piezoelectric micro cantilever with a triang...