INTEGRATED FABRY-PEROT DISTANCE CONTROL FOR ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY

This article reports on the first ''standalone'' optical atomic force microscope(AFM) based on an integrated Fabry-Perot AFM sensor. The new AFM consists of two components: a cantilever with an integrated tip a nd a Fabry-Perot cavity and an optical system for supply and detection of the light. A batch process for the reproducible production of the new Fabry-Perot cantilever by thin film technology is described. The t ip diameters achievable are below 10 nm. The Fabry-Perot gap of approx imately 7 mu m realized reduces thermal drift and phase noise. The opt ical system is produced by high precision mechanics. It consists of on e part that is fixed to the piezo tube and another part that can be ex changed, The advantage of the new AFM is the high resolution of the in tegrated optical detection system combined with an easy handling syste m for cantilever exchange without any adjustment. This makes the appro ach very attractive as a standard tool for inspection in semiconductor industry, surface manipulation on a nanometer scale, or surface studi es in ultrahigh vacuum. (C) 1997 American Vacuum Society.