Micro-displacement type information detection probe device and microscope and information processing device by use thereof

Abstract: A micro-displacement type information detection probe device capable of following all of the undulation on the µm order, etc. and the periodical surface unevenness on the nm order, etc. of the recording medium or the substrate in performing recording, reproduction, etc. by use of tunnel current, etc. is provided. By forming a cantilever 701 of the first stage by extending the insulation layer laminated on the substrate, providing a layer structure 708 - 710 having a piezoelectric material sandwiched between the electrode members on the cantilever of the first stage, forming further a cantilever 702 of the second stage on the extension from the tip end of the first cantilever having said layer structure and also forming an information detection probe 703 at the free end of the cantilever of said second stage, and utilizing the reverse piezoelectric effect formed by application of a voltage between the electrodes of said layer structure, the cantilever 701 of the above first stage is displaced.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a micro-displacement type information detection probe device utilizing the reverse piezoelectric effect for positional determination of a probe for a scanning tunneling microscope, an atomic force microscope and an information processing device having such a device mounted therein. Related Background Art In recent years, the recording capacity of data in recording devices tends to become increasingly larger. In this tendency, it is essentially required that the size of recording unit should become increasingly smaller and its density still higher. For example, in a digital audio disc for optical recording the size of recording unit approaches even to about 1 µm 2 . On the other hand, recently, scanning tunneling microscopy (hereinafter abbreviated as STM) by which the electron structures of the surface of substance and the vicinity thereof can be directly observed has been developed [G. Binnig et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 49 , 57 (1982)], whereby it has become possible to measure real space images with high resolving irrespectively whether the substance may be either single-crystalline or amorphous. Moreover, since it has the advantage that observation can be made at low power without giving any damage by current to the medium, and further since it can be actuated not only in super-high vacuum but also in air or in solution and used for various materials, wide scope of applications has been expected. The STM utilizes the phenomenon that when a probe of a metal (probe electrode) and an electroconductive substance are approached to a distance of about 1 nm (10 Å) with application of a voltage therebetween, a current will flow between them. The current is very sensitive to the distance change between them, and the surface information of the real space can be obtained by scanning the probe so as to keep the current or the average distance between them at a constant level. In this case, the resolving power in the intraplanar direction is 1 Å or more. By applying the principle of STM and using a material having a memory effect for switching characteristics of voltage and current as the recording medium, such as thin film of n-electron type organic compounds, chalcogenides, etc., information recording with recording unit of 0.001 µm 2 or less is possible. On the other hand, atomic force microscopy (hereinafter abbreviated as AFM) observes the three-dimensional shape of a surface with a resolving power of nanometer or less by detecting conversely the force from the warping amount of a cantilever (elastic member) supporting a probe approached to a distance of 1 nanometer or less to the sample surface by receiving the force acting between the sample and the probe, and scanning the probe on the sample surface while controlling the distance between the sample and the probe so as to make the force constant [Binnig et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56 930 (1986)] . In such AFM, the sample is not required to have electroconductivity as in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and insulating materials, particularly semiconductor resist surface or biological polymer, etc. can be observed on atomic-molecular order, and therefore wide aplications have been expected. Also, for performing recording and reproduction of high density by use of the above recording medium, a large number of devices have been proposed. For example, in a device disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 62-281138, a converter, a probe for performing recording and reproduction of information and a probe driven mechanism for controlling the distance between the recording medium and the probe are integrally formed on a silicon chip by use of the photolithographic technique to effect integration of the recording head. Thus, when the integrated recording head is set in a recording and reproduction device of high density, since the recording area occupied by one recording head is on the µm order, it has been required that hundreds to thousands of recording heads should be prepared, and further arranged to the form capable of relative movement on the order of mm between the recording medium and plural recording heads, thereby enhancing recording capacity or recording speed. However, when hundreds to thousands of recording heads are prepared and placed in the vicinity of the recording medium, and the recording medium and the recording head are relatively moved on the order of mm, the following problems will ensue: 1) The distance between the recording medium and the recording probe set at the tip end of recording head is as very short as several nm. In order for the recording head to follow the recording medium under this state, since the deviation amount of the recording head is about 1 µm, the undulation or slope of the recording medium and the substrate must be suppressed within about 1 µm. 2) The recording medium and the substrate have also unevenness of nm period formed during preparation of the recording bit or the substrate, in addition to large undulations of several µm period. When such recording medium and recording head are relatively moved by several mm, the recording head is required to follow both of the unevenness of nm period and undulation of µm period. Therefore, if it is intended to follow the unevenness of nm period under the state where the undulation of µm period can be followed, it is difficult to increase the device speed in relationship with the resonance frequency. US-A-4520570 discloses a piezoelectric X-Y positioner including two pairs of bimorphs extending in orthogonal directions. The first pair of bimorphs are carried on a fixed frame, the second paid of bimorphs being suspended from an intermediate frame attached to the first pair of bimorphs. US-A-4668865 discloses a scanning tunnelling microscope including two pairs of electrostatically controlled strips arranged so as to enable a centre portion to perform movements in the X and Y directions. A third set of strips enable movement in the Z direction. WO89/07256 discloses a mass memory storage device in which a recording surface and a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever structure are integrated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, an object of the present invention is: 1) to provide a micro-displacement type information detection probe device which can follow all of the undulations on the µm order, etc. and the periodical surface unevenness on the nm order of the recording medium or the substrate, and another object is: 2) to provide a scanning tunnelling microscope, an atomic force microscope, and further an information processing device which performs recording, reproduction, etc., which have enabled improvement and stabilization of access speed, etc. by use of such a micro-displacement type information detection probe device. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: a micro-displacement type probe device including: a substrate; a first elastic member supported by the substrate; a second elastic member supported by the first elastic member, said first and second elastic members being formed of elastic structures having different resonant frequencies, said second elastic member having a higher resonant frequency than the resonant frequency of said first elastic member each elastic member being independently deformable in a direction perpendicular to a recording medium, a driving means for driving an actuator so to elastically deform the first elastic member in the direction perpendicular to the recording medium, and a probe formed on the second elastic member arranged to be positioned opposing the medium, the apparatus further comprising a detecting means for detecting a displacement of the probe, and a controlling means for controlling the driving means based on the output signal of the detecting means so that the atomic force between the probe and the recording medium is maintained constant. According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an information processing method using a micro displacement type probe device including: a substrate; a first elastic member supported by the substrate; a second elastic member supported by the first elastic member, said first and second elastic members being formed of elastic structures having different resonant frequencies, said second elastic member having a higher resonant frequency than the resonant frequency of said first elastic member, each elastic member being independently deformable in a direction perpendicular to a recording medium, the method including the steps of elastically deforming the first elastic member, and positioning a probe formed on the second elastic member opposite the medium; the method including the further steps of: detecting the displacement of the probe to produce an output signal representative of the displacement; and controlling the actuator based on the output signal so that the atomic force generated between the probe and the recording medium is maintained constant. Further, the present invention provides an information processing device equipped with the above micro-displacement type information detection device. Thus, the basic constitution of the present invention is to form a plate-shaped cantilever with one end fixed on the substrate, make a structure having as alternately laminated an electroconductive electrode material and a piezoelectric material which gives rise to the reverse piezoelectric effect, and also form a micro-cantilever further at the second stage within the cantilever plane or on the extension from the tip of the cantilever, and provide an information detection probe at the free end of the micro-cantilever, and in such constitution, the following actions can be obtained by application of a voltage between the electrode members. When an electrical field E is applied externally on the piezoelectric material, polarization P occurs in the piezoelectric crystal, which crystal gives rise to fine distortion proportional to the polarization P. In conventional dielectric material, the polarization P is in proportion to the electrical field E and hence the distortion is in proportion to E. By utilizing such property, by giving electrical fields which are made partially different to, for example, piezoelectric materials provided in shape of plates, warping shaped in plate as a whole can be caused to occur. Further, by forming a cantilever at the plural number of stages within the plane of the cantilever or on the extension from the tip end of the cantilever, and also making the constitution of at least the first stage cantilever so as to obtain warping due to the above reverse piezoelectric effect, when warping is caused to occur in all the cantilevers, the warping amount equal to the total sum of the respective warping amounts can be obtained between the outermost cantilever and the innermost cantilever. Therefore, for example, when the distance between the recording medium and the probe is controlled, by assembling the constitution for effecting such action, it becomes possible to follow the respective unevenness on the nm order and the undulation on the µm order possessed by the recording medium and the substrate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a stereoscopic perspective view of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figs. 2A and 2B show the displacement state of the cantilever of the device according to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a stereoscopic perspective view of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Figs. 4A and 4B show the displacement state of the cantilever of the device according to Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a stereoscopic perspective view of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the information processing device having the micro-displacement type information detection probe device mounted therein. Figs. 7A and 7B are stereoscopic perspective view and sectional view of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is an illustration of the information processing device having the micro-displacement type information detection probe device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) Fig. 1 and Figs. 2A and 2B are constitutional view and schematic views for illustration of the first embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 1, 100 is a substrate, 101 an insulating layer such as SiO 2 or Si 3 N 4 for forming a cantilever, 102 - 107, 112 - 118 are electrodes by use of such material as Au, Al, etc. for driving three-dimensionally the cantilever, 109, 111 are piezoelectric materials such as PZT, ZnO, AlN, etc. for effecting micro-displacement by giving electrical signals, 120 an information detection probe for detecting current or force such as atomic force, etc., and 119 a flexural slit for forming a micro-cantilever of the opposite direction. Fig. 2A shows the initial state of the cantilever 201 and Fig. 2B the state when the micro-cantilever 202 of the opposite direction to the cantilever 201 is displaced by the reverse piezoelectric effect. The micro-displacement type information detection probe device having the constitution as described above is described in more detail by referring to Fig. 1 and Figs. 2A and 2B. First, the preparation steps of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device are shown below. On a Si (100) substrate 100 with a thickness of 0.5 mm, an Si 3 N 4 film was formed to a thickness of 0.15 µm according to the CVD method to form an insulating layer 101. The starting gases employed were SiH 2 Cl 2 :NH 3 (1:9), and the substrate temperature was 800 °C. Next, by use of the photolithographic technique and dry etching using CF 4 gas, the Si 3 N 4 film 102 was subjected to patterning into the shapes of a desired cantilever as shown in Fig. 1 and a micro-cantilever of the opposite direction formed with the flexural slit 119. Subsequently, as the material for the electrodes 102 - 107, Au film was formed to 0.1 µm at the cantilever portion of the insulating layer 101 by use of the sputtering method, and subjected to patterning into a desired shaped by use of the photolithographic technique. The patterning shape in this case is the same as the electrodes 112 - 117 shown on the upper surface in Fig. 1. For improvement of adhesion between Si 3 N 4 and Au, Cr film may be also formed. Next, as the piezoelectric material 109, AlN film was formed to 0.3 µm, according to the sputtering method. By use of Al for the target, sputtering was effected in Ar + N 2 atmosphere. Further, patterning was carried out by photolithography and wet etching with an etchant for Al. Then, the above steps were repeated to form alternately the piezoelectric material and the electrode to form a bimorph structure of Si substrate-Si 3 N 4 -Au-AlN-Au-AlN-Au as shown in Fig. 1. Finally, as the material for the information detection probe 120, W was deposited in a cone shape according to the vapor deposition method. The size of the micro-displacement type information detection probe prepared according to the above preparation steps was 150 µm in width W and 600 µm in length L. The size of the micro-cantilever of the opposite direction formed inside of the flexural slit 119 was 50 µm in width and 300 µm in length. As described above, the patterns of the electrodes are respectively the same for the electrodes of 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 and the electrodes for 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 correspondingly, and 110 which is the intermediate electrode is formed on the whole surface of the cantilever. Next, the driving method of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device shown in Fig. 1 is described. First, when no voltage is swept on the AlN piezoelectric devices 109, 111, it is in the form as shown in Fig. 2A. Next, with the Au electrode 100 as the ground, a minus bias is swept on the upper electrodes of 113, 117, a plus bias swept on the lower electrodes of 103, 107, a minus bias swept on the lower electrodes 104, 106, a plus bias swept on the upper electrodes of 114, 116, a plus bias swept on the lower electrodes of 102, 105, and a minus bias swept on the upper electrodes of 112, 115. By stretching the AlN piezoelectric devices 109, 111 utilizing the reverse piezoelectric effect created by such sweep, a warping displacement as shown in Fig. 2B can be obtained. Therefore, by use of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device of the present invention, even if the dimensions may be the same as those of the cantilever of the prior art, it has become possible to obtain a displacement amount of about 1.5-fold to 2-fold as compared with the prior art. The size and the shape of the flexural slit 119 shown in the present embodiment are not required to be limited to those of the present embodiment, but it can have various shapes. For example, the flexural slit may also have a mountain-like shape. (embodiment 2) Fig. 3 and Figs. 4A and 4B show the second embodiment. In Fig. 3, 100 is a substrate, 101 an insulating layer, 301 a cantilever, 302, 303 are flexural slits, 304 is a first micro-cantilever of the opposite direction, and 305 a second micro-cantilever micro-cantilever formed inside of the first of the opposite direction. Although not shown in Fig. 3, an insulating material, a piezoelectric material and an electrode material with the same film structures as in Fig. 1 are formed on the Si substrate 100 as the bimorph structure of Si 3 N 4 -Au-AlN-Au-AlN-Au. Figs. 4A and 4B are schematic views showing the states before and after the displacement of Fig. 3. The Au electrode not shown in Fig. 3 is given a bias voltage according to the same method as in the driving method described in Example 1 to displace the AlN piezoelectric material not shown, thereby having the cantilevers of 301, 304, 305 warped. As the result, as shown in Fig. 4B, by use of the device of the present invention having the same dimensions as the cantilever of the prior art, a 2- to 3-fold displacement amount could be obtained. As described above, by constituting the cantilevers in multiple stages, the displacement amount could be taken further greater than in Embodiment 1. In the above embodiments, description has been made about the embodiment provided with only one cantilever 305, but a plurality of cantilevers 305 may be also juxtaposed and implemented in the same manner as described above. (Embodiment 3) Fig. 5 shows the third embodiment. In Fig. 5, 100 is a substrate, 101 an insulation layer, 501 a cantilever, and 502 a micro-cantilever of the opposite direction formed by providing two slits 503 in parallel on the cantilever 501. 120 is an information detection probe. By making such constitution, it becomes possible to have either one of the micro-cantilevers having the information detection probe stand by as the spare cantilever, and even if one of them may be broken under some influence, it has become possible to be repaired immediately. In the present embodiment, the parallel slits were made two systems, but they are not limited to two, but may be also arranged in more number. (Embodiment 4) Fig. 6 shows an illustrative example. Here is shown an example in which the micro-displacement type information detection probe device is mounted in an information processing device capable of recording and reproduction. In Fig. 6, 600 is a probe for recording and reproducing information, 601 a cantilever, 602 a micro-cantilever provided on the cantilever 601, 603 a recording layer built up to 8 layers of squarylium-bis-6-octylazulene having the memory effect for the switching characteristics of voltage-current by use of the LB method on a graphite substrate. 604 an electrode, 605 a substrate, 606 an XY stage, 607 a substrate, 608 a longitudinal direction (Z-axis direction) positional control means, 609 a current voltage converting circuit for converting tunnel current flowing between the probe 600 and the recording layer 603 to voltage, 610 a logarithmic convertor, 611 a comparator, 612 a band pass filter for taking out signals only of specific frequency components, 613 an amplifier, 614 a low pass filter for taking out signals of predetermined low frequency, 615 an amplifier, 616 a three-dimensional scanning circuit for driving three dimensionally the cantilever 601 and the micro-cantilever 602, 617 a driving circuit for driving the longitudinal direction position control means 608, 618 a pulse power source for recording and reproducing information to the recording layer 603, and 619 a large coarse movement circuit for driving the XY stage 606. Next, with the constitution of the devices and media as described above, the recording and reproducing device of high density is actuated in the air. For controlling the distance between the probe 600 and the recording layer 603 to a constant state of several nm (nanometers), the electrical feedback signal passing through the current-voltage converting circuit 609, the logarithmic converting circuit 610, the comparator 611, the band pass filter 612, the low pass filter 614, the amplifiers 613, 615 is given to the cantilever 601 and the micro-cantilever 602. As the positional detection means betwewen the probe 600 and the recording layer 603, tunnel current was utilized. Under the state as described above, recording and reproduction can be performed. Recording is performed by moving the three-dimensional scanning circuit 616 to any desired place by use of the XY stage 606, the large coarse movement circuit 619 and applying a voltage of 2 V exceeding 1.5 V which is the threshold value voltage causing the electrical memory effect to occur between the probe 600 and the recording layer 603, and a pulse width of 1 µsec, by use of the pulse power source 618. As the result, the electrically ON stage (the state in which current flows by 3 ciphers or more as compared with the OFF stage) could be written in the recording layer 603. It was possible to trace the recording position and reproduce the ON state. In the above example, there is shown an example in which one having squarylium-bis-6-octylazulene built up to 8 layers on a graphite substrate by use of the LB method is used as the recording medium, but as the material for the recording medium (recording layer), any material which can perform writing and erazing may be employed, and as the preparation method of the medium, it is not required to be limited to this method at all. In carrying out recording and reproduction as mentioned above, the XY stage is moved on the mm order, and in such case, there is possibility that the probe 600 may contact through the respective inherent unevenness and undulation of the recording layer 603, the electrode 604 and the substrate 605, and therefore the contact must be avoided by sending an electrical feedback signal to the cantilever 601 or the micro-cantilever 602. The electrical feedback signal at this time is formed by dividing the signal from the comparator 611 into two signals so as to follow the large undulation with some 10 Hz frequency possessed by the substrate 605 and the unevenness of some 100 Hz possessed by the electrode 604, and the signal with some 10 Hz frequency is sent through the low pass filter 614 to the cantilever 601, while the signal with some 100 Hz frequency sent through the band pass filter 612 to the micro-cantilever 602. Thus, by separating the signal to actuate independently the cantilever 601 and the micro-cantilever 602, high speed scanning becomes possible, whereby the access speed of the information processing device of the present embodiment could be improved. As is common to the embodiments and example described above, since Si 3 N 4 for forming the insulation layer 101, AlN which is the piezoelectric material and Au which is the electrode material have linear expansion coefficients and Young's moduli which are different from one another, and therefore when the cantilever is formed by layer structure formation of these, warping of the cantilever may sometimes occur depending on temperature change. Therefore, it is preferable to choose suitably the dimensions (length, etc.) of the cantilever and the micro-cantilever so that the probe may come to the adequate position in view of also such thermal expansion or shrinkage. (Embodiment 5) Figs. 7A and 7B and Fig. 8 show an embodiment of the invention. In the present embodiment, the micro-displacement type information detection device consists of the two stages of the cantilever portion 701 equipped with actuator and the micro-cantilever portion 702, and a probe 703 for recording signal application and reproduction signal detection is mounted at the tip of the micro-cantilever portion 702. As to the details of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device, as shown in Fig. 7B, on the Si N layer 705 constituting the two stage cantilever provided on the Si substrate 704 is provided an Au wiring 706 for application of recording signals on the probe 703, and further as the upper layers thereon, an Si 3 N 4 layer 707 as the insulation layer, the portion constituting the first stage cantilever comprising the three layers of an Au layer 708 constituting the unimorph device actuator, a ZnO layer 709 and an Au layer 710 are provided. The preparation steps of such device are substantially the same as the method described in the Embodiment 1, and after formation of Si 3 N 4 on the Si (100) substrate according to the CVD method to a film thickness of 0.5 µm, Au wiring is formed thereon to a film thickness of 0.1 µm according to the sputtering method. Here, after patterning to the second stage cantilever shape by photolithographic steps, an Si 3 N 4 layer is formed again to 0.1 µm on the first stage cantilever portion according to the CVD method, and while repeating patterning, Au layer 0.1 µm, ZnO layer 0.3 µm, An layer 0.1 µm are formed. Then, according to the electron beam deposition method, an electroconductive material such as carbon, etc. is vapor deposited on the tip of the second stage cantilever portion, followed finally by formation of the cantilever according to anisotropic etching with KOH from the back of the substrate. The sizes of the cantilevers of the micro-displacement type information detection probe device prepared according to the above steps were the rectangular type with a width of 150 µm and a length of 600 µm for the cantilever portion equipped with actuator and V type with a width of 20 µm and a length of 100 µm for the micro-cantilever portion. Next, by use of Fig. 8, description is made about an embodiment in which the micro-displacement type information detection probe device of the present embodiment is applied to an information processing device capable of performing recording and reproduction. By approaching the probe 802 with the tip end to a distance of 1 nanometer or less to the recording medium substrate 801, scanning is performed relatively in the lateral direction. Here, the light beam from the laser 803 is irradiated on the back at the tip end of the micro-cantilever supporting the probe 802, and the reflected light beam spot position is detected by a bi-divided sensor 805. When a change occurs in size of the atomic force acting between the recording medium substrate 801 and the probe 802, the warped amount of the micro-cantilever portion changes to accompany angular change of the reflected light beam, whereby a change occurs in the beam spot position on the bi-divided sensor 805. Accordingly, so that the beam spot position may become constant, namely the size of the atomic force acting between the recording medium substrate 801 and the probe 802 may be constant, the warp displacement amount of the cantilever portion 806 equipped with actuator is controlled. From the size of the control signal, the control amount of vertical movement of the probe 802 to make the size of atomic force constant, namely the shape of the surface of the recording medium substrate 801 can be detected. At this time, the resonance frequency to the warp displacement of the cantilever portion 806 equipped with actuator is about 1 kHz, but the resonance frequency to the warp of the micro-cantilever portion 804 becomes about 50 kHz, and therefore the probe 802 can be scanned on the substrate surface through the warp displacement of the cantilever portion 806 equipped with actuator for large undulation, slope 807 on the micron order of the recording medium substrate 801 surface, and through the warp of the micro-cantilever portion 804 for the recording bit 808 on the nanometer order, the unevenness 809 of the substrate. Thus, by actuating independently the cantilever portion 806 equipped with actuator and the micro-cantilever portion 804, high speed scanning becomes possible, whereby the access speed of the information processing device of the present embodiment could be improved. Here, the method of recording and reproduction is described. As the recording medium substrate 801, for example, one having electroconductivity such as Au (111) plane epitaxially grown on mica and being flat on the subnanometer order over wide range is used. By approaching the probe to the substrate as described above, and applying a pulse voltage of 5 V, 100 µ s therebetween, bits with convex shape having diameters of about 10 nm can be formed. As the recording method, other than the examples mentioned here, any of the methods which change the surface shape of the recording medium substrate may be employed, and other materials may be available and bits with concave shape may be also formed. As the reproduction method, when the probe approaches the recording bit, the warp amount due to the atomic force therebetween of the micro-cantilever supporting the probe is detected by the positional deviation amount of the reflected light beam spot on the bi-divided sensor, and this is made the reproduction signal. Such reproduction is rendered possible, because the cantilever portion equipped with actuator will not follow the signals of high frequency such as recording bit, etc. As described above, the micro-displacement type information detection probe device of the present invention utilizes the reverse piezoelectric effect, and also can realize enlargement of the warping displacement amount by forming cantilevers of multiple stages within the plane of the cantilever or on the extension from the tip end of the cantilever. When the micro-displacement type information detection probe device of the present invention is mounted in an atomic force microscope or an information processing device for performing recording and reproduction of high density, provision of the cantilever in multiple stages enables separate actuation of the functions, whereby the access speed can be improved as compared with the prior art to provide a highly stable and high speed atomic force microscope or information processing device.

Claims: An information processing apparatus comprising: a micro-displacement type probe device including: a substrate (704); a first elastic member (701; 806) supported by the substrate (704); a second elastic member (702; 804) supported by the first elastic member (201; 601), said first and second elastic members (701; 806, 702; 806) being formed of elastic structures having different resonant frequencies, said second elastic member (702; 804) having a higher resonant frequency than the resonant frequency of said first elastic member (701; 806) each elastic member (701; 806, 702; 804) being independently deformable in a direction perpendicular to a recording medium (801), a driving means (615) for driving an actuator so to elastically deform the first elastic member (701; 806) in the direction perpendicular to the recording medium (801), and a probe (703; 802) formed on the second elastic member (702; 804) arranged to be positioned opposing the medium (801), the apparatus further comprising a detecting means (803, 805) for detecting a displacement of the probe (801), and a controlling means (611, 614) for controlling the driving means (615) based on the output signal of the detecting means (803, 805) so that the atomic force between the probe (703, 802) and the recording medium (801) is maintained constant. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a reproducing means (612, 620, 621) for reproducing information recorded on the recording medium (801) based on the output signal of the detecting means (803, 805). An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 including a recording means for recording information on the recording medium (801). An information processing method using a micro displacement type probe device including: a substrate (704); a first elastic member (701; 806) supported by the substrate (100); a second elastic member (702; 804) supported by the first elastic member (701; 806), said first and second elastic members (701; 806, 702; 804) being formed of elastic structures having different resonant frequencies, said second elastic member (702; 804) having a higher resonant frequency than the resonant frequency of said first elastic member (701; 806), each elastic member (701, 702; 806, 804) being independently deformable in a direction perpendicular to a recording medium (801), the method including the steps of elastically deforming the first elastic member (701; 806), and positioning a probe (703; 802) formed on the second elastic member (702; 804) opposite the medium (801); the method including the further steps of: detecting the displacement of the probe (703; 802) to produce an output signal representative of the displacement; and controlling the actuator based on the output signal so that the atomic force generated between the probe (703; 802) and the recording medium (801) is maintained constant. An information processing method according to Claim 4, including the step of reproducing information recorded on the recording medium (801) based on the output signal produced during said detecting step. An information processing method according to Claim 4 or Claim 5 including the step of recording information on the recording medium (801).

Inventors: KAWASE TOSHIMITSU, KURODA RYO, MIYAZAKI TOSHIHIKO, NOSE HIROYASU, SHINJO KATSUHIKO, KAWASE, TOSHIMITSU, KURODA, RYO, MIYAZAKI, TOSHIHIKO, NOSE, HIROYASU, SHINJO, KATSUHIKO, KAWASE, TOSHIMITSU, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KURODA, RYO, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, MIYAZAKI, TOSHIHIKO, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, NOSE, HIROYASU, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, SHINJO, KATSUHIKO, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G01B7
IPC codes: G01N37, G01B7, H01J37, G11B5, G11B9, G01B21, H01L41, G01Q70, G01Q20