SCANNING-PROBE MICROSCOPE USING AN ULTRASMALL COUPLED-CAVITY LASER DISTORTION SENSOR-BASED ON MECHANICAL NEGATIVE-FEEDBACK STABILIZATION

A compact scanning-probe microscope (SPM) using an ultrasmall distorti on sensor has been developed for versatile implementation. The sensor is based on a coupled-cavity laser (CCL) consisting of a Fabry-Perot l aser diode monolithically integrated with a photodiode, an external mi rror on a cantilever, and a small ball lens for laser-beam collimation . With the CCL stabilized by a simple mechanically controlled negative -feedback loop, the temporary distortion of the cantilever's sharp tip in response to the surface structure is measured with a vertical accu racy of 0.8 nm. The SPM was verified by imaging tracking grooves of an optical disk.