Patent ID: 9709598
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: B82Y,G01Q

Claim:
1. A method for interrogating a surface using scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM), comprising the steps of: a) repeatedly bringing a SICM probe into proximity with the surface at discrete, spaced precursor points in a region of the surface to obtain a precursor point surface height measurement for each of the precursor points; b) estimating surface roughness for the region by analyzing the distribution of the precursor point surface height measurements; c) determining a number and location of discrete, spaced additional points based upon the estimated surface roughness; d) repeatedly bringing the probe into proximity with the surface at the additional points to obtain an additional point surface height measurement for each of the additional points; and e) combining the precursor point and additional point surface height measurements to obtain an image of the region with a resolution adapted to the surface roughness.