INSTRUMENTATION OF THE HIGH-VACUUM ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPE

The high-vacuum atomic force microscope (HV-AFM) is a useful tool that is used in various sample environments and achieve good 2 axis sensit ivity in a noncontact mode operation because the cantilever is free fr om hydrodynamic damping. The instrument is designed with the aims of m inimizing the measuring time, simplifying the operation and achieving high performance. A pumping pressure of about 10(-4) Pa is obtainable within 15 min. To achieve easy operation, the optical lever deflection detection head is placed outside the vacuum chamber. The vibration is olation is achieved using an elastic damper and a magnetic-floating-ty pe turbomolecular pump. This vibration isolation method works well eno ugh to obtain the atomic-resolution image of a highly oriented pyrolyt ic graphite (HOPG) sample. We checked the sensitivity of the instrumen t using the noncontact mode of operation of a magnetic force microscop e (MFM). The Z axis sensitivity in vacuum operation was compared with that in ambient operation. The quality factor increased by more than 2 5 times and the Z axis sensitivity increased by more than 10 times in vacuum operation (10(-4) Pa).