A STAND-ALONE SCANNING FORCE AND FRICTION MICROSCOPE

We present a new design for a compact stand-alone force and friction microscope. Both the force sensor and the scanning unit are mounted on the microscope head, thus allowing the investigation of virtually all surfaces, independent of thickness and size, and minimizing the geometrical dimension. The beam deflection method in a collinear arrangement is used to detect the normal force and the friction force. The cantilever is fixed to the scanning piezo. The influences of the scanning motion on the force signal and the compensation schemes are discussed. The new design of the SFM allows a combination of optical surface manipulation and real-time detection of the stimulated processes with the scanning force microscope. The set-up also makes it possible to work under fluids.