Quadrature phase interferometer for high resolution force spectroscopy

In this article, we present a deflection measurement setup for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). It is based on a quadrature phase differential interferometer: we measure the optical path difference between a laser beam reflecting above the cantilever tip and a reference beam reflecting on the static b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2013-09, Vol.84 (9), p.095001-095001
Main Authors: Paolino, Pierdomenico, Aguilar Sandoval, Felipe A., Bellon, Ludovic
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCURACY
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
BEAMS
Beams (radiation)
CALIBRATION
Condensed Matter
Deflection
High resolution
Instrumentation and Detectors
INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
INTERFEROMETERS
LASERS
NOISE
Physics
QUADRATURES
RESOLUTION
SENSORS
Spectra
SPECTROSCOPY
Statistical Mechanics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this article, we present a deflection measurement setup for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). It is based on a quadrature phase differential interferometer: we measure the optical path difference between a laser beam reflecting above the cantilever tip and a reference beam reflecting on the static base of the sensor. A design with very low environmental susceptibility and another allowing calibrated measurements on a wide spectral range are described. Both enable a very high resolution (down to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$2.5 \times 10^{-15}\,{\rm m}/\sqrt{\rm Hz}$\end{document} 2.5 × 10 − 15 m / Hz ), illustrated by thermal noise measurements on AFM cantilevers. They present an excellent long-term stability and a constant sensitivity independent of the optical phase of the interferometer. A quick review shows that our precision is equaling or out-performing the best results reported in the literature, but for a much larger deflection range, up to a few μm.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.4819743