Patent ID: 9696342
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: B82Y,G01B,G01Q

Claim:
1. An atomic force microscope, comprising: an atomic force microscope cantilever, having a base and a probe tip; a surface for holding a sample to be measured by the cantilever, adjacent to the cantilever; a controller; and a cantilever driving element, driven by said controller, the controller receiving a signal indicative of cantilever motion, the controller exciting the cantilever at both of first and second eigenmodes, including one of the eigenmodes that provides attractive interactions between the cantilever and sample, and another of the eigenmodes that provides repulsive interactions between the cantilever and sample, the controller exciting the cantilever at the first and second eigenmodes while controlling a distance between the cantilever and the sample, and the controller measuring the amplitude and/or phase of the cantilever at least at one of first and second frequencies associated with one of the first and second eigenmodes.