ULTRAHIGH-VACUUM SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPE WITH FIBER OPTIC DEFLECTION SENSOR

We built a scanning force microscope working in ultrahigh vacuum. The lever deflection is measured by a fiber-optic interferometer. To detec t large lever deflections the distance between the fiber end and the c antilever backside is controllable by a piezoelectric device. With thi s technique force-distance curves can be acquired even over large dist ances. We implemented a stepper motor with gear reduction system for c oarse approach in our microscope. First measurements of thin gold film s grown on mica obtained in situ at 10(-8) Pa are presented. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.