Atomic force microscope for direct comparison measurement of step height and crystalline lattice spacing

摘要

A new atomic force microscope (AFM) for directcomparison measurements of step heights and crystalline latticespacing has been developed. The AFM is equipped with acantilever with a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film sensor, areference crystal technique with a scanning tunneling microscope(STM) for step height measurement, high accuracy mechanisms,and an interferometer. A mono-atomic step on a surface ofsapphire (0001) has been measured to show the performance ofthe AFM. The measured step height of the mono-atomic stepcalibrated by the interferometer inreal time was 0.21 ±0.07nm(1σ) and from the known lattice constant of graphite of0.246nm, a step height of 0.19±0.05nm (1σ) can be derived forthe rapphire sample, both of which agree with the known value ofa single step of 0.22nm.