Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. Apparatus for characterizing a surface of a sample with a probe, the apparatus comprising:an actuator;a first member carried by the actuator and having a distal end which is extensible and retractable relative to the surface;a second member carried by the actuator and having a distal end which is extensible and retractable relative to the surface;a detector that produces a signal corresponding to the location of the probe relative to the surface;a first control device operatively connected to the detector and the first and second members which causes the distal ends of the first and second members to extend or retract substantially synchronously and in response to the signal of the detector, and that controls movement of the probe at a first rate relative to the surface in response to a first feedback signal; anda second control device operatively connected to the first control device and the actuator that causes the actuator to move the probe at a second rate relative to the surface in response to a second feedback signal. 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising an actuator movable both toward and away from a sample. 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a mount assembly carried by the distal end of the first member, wherein the mount assembly comprises (i) a probe mount and (ii) a cantilever probe having a fixed end carried by the mount and including a stylus spaced from the fixed end and disposed toward the sample; and further comprising a counterbalance carried by the distal end of the second member. 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein a momentum of the first member and mount assembly together is balanced by a momentum of the second member and counterbalance together. 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein a mass of the first member and mount assembly together is substantially the same as a mass of the second member and counterbalance together. 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein a mass of the first member and mount assembly together is not the same as a mass of the second member and counterbalance together. 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and second control devices are proportional, integral, derivative controllers. 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the second control device produces the second feedback signal if the signal of the detector is not reduced to zero by the first control device. 9. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the first member has a range of motion and wherein the first control device and the second control device maintain the first member in substantially a middle portion of the range of motion. 10. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first control device produces the first feedback signal in response to the signal of the detector for movement of the probe relative to the sample surface within a range of about 1 micrometer, and wherein the first feedback signal causes the second control device to produce the second feedback signal for movement of the actuator relative to the sample surface within a range of about 15 micrometers. 11. Apparatus for characterizing a surface of a sample with a probe, the apparatus comprising:an actuator;a first member carried by the actuator and having a distal end which is extensible and retractable relative to the surface;a second member carried by the actuator and having a distal end which is extensible and retractable relative to the surface;a detector that produces a signal which corresponds to the location of the probe relative to the surface of the sample;a first control device operatively connected to the detector and the first and second members for causing the distal ends of the first and the second members to extend or retract in response to the detector signal, for moving the probe at a first rate relative to the surface, wherein the distal ends of the first and the second members substantially synchronously either both extend or both retract in response to the signal from the detector;and a second control device operatively connected to the detector and the actuator for causing the actuator to move the probe at a second rate relative to the surface. 12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the first control device is a proportional, integral, derivative controller, wherein the second control device is a proportional, integral, derivative controller. 13. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the first control device provides relatively quicker response to the first and second members than the second control device provides to the actuator. 14. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, further including (i) a high-pass filter operatively connected to the detector and to the first control device for providing relatively higher frequency signals to the first control device and (ii) a low-pass filter operatively connected to the detector and to the second control device for providing relatively lower frequency signals to the second control device, wherein the first control device produces a first control signal in response to the higher frequency signals for causing the distal ends of the first and the second members either to extend or retract, and wherein the second control device produces a second control signal in response to the lower frequency signals for causing the actuator to move toward or away from the sample surface. 15. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, further including (i) a high-pass filter operatively connected to the detector and to the first control device for providing relatively higher frequency signals to the first control device, and (ii) a low-pass filter operatively connected to the detector and to the second control device for providing relatively lower frequency signals to the second control device, wherein the first control device produces a first control signal in response to the higher frequency signals for causing the distal ends of the first and the second members either to extend or retract, for moving the probe relative to the sample surface within a range of approximately 1 micron, wherein the second control device produces a second control signal in response to the lower frequency signals for causing the actuator to move toward or away from the sample surface, for moving the probe relative to the sample surface within a range of approximately 15 microns, and wherein the lower frequency signals and the higher frequency signals cooperate to drive the probe toward the sample surface. 16. A method of reducing parasitic oscillations in an apparatus having a probe which interacts with the surface of a sample and which is moved relative to the surface by a fast Z actuator and by a slow Z actuator, the method comprising:converting a signal related to the position of the probe into a first control signal fed to the fast Z actuator which moves the probe at a first rate;converting the first control signal into a second control signal which is fed to the slow Z actuator which moves the probe at a second rate; andbalancing the momentum of the fast Z actuator so that the net momentum of the fast Z actuator is essentially zero. 17. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the second control signal is zero if the first control signal is reduced to zero by the probe moving at a first rate. 18. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the momentum is balanced by moving a mass equal to the mass of the fast Z actuator at a velocity equal to the velocity of the fast Z actuator and in a direction opposite that of the fast Z actuator and synchronously therewith.