BATTERY-OPERATED ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPE

The design of a battery-operated atomic force microscope (AFM) using a piezoresistive cantilever is described. The AFM is designed so that a ll power to drive the scanning tube and detection electronics comes fr om a self-contained battery. The prototype AFM uses a 6 V, Ni-Cd, camc order battery, however, any battery that supplies between 6 and 12 V m ay be used. Scanner control and data acquisition are implemented using commercially available software running on an external computer. The prototype AFM achieves a scan area of 53 by 53 mu m, consumes 1.8 W of power, and can scan continuously for about 7 h on a single battery ch arge. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.