Patent ID: 6931917

Claim:
A method for sensing a sample employing a profiler, said profiler having a stylus sensor assembly with an arm rotatable about a pivot and a controller controlling a force acting on the arm, said method comprising the steps of: (a) positioning a sensing tip above one location of the sample; (b) reducing a distance between the sample and a sensing tip without substantially moving the tip and the sample laterally relative to each other and without substantially rotating the arm about said pivot, until the tip touches the sample; (c) measuring data related to a height of the sample surface with the tip stationary and in contact with the sample; (d) increasing a distance between the tip and the sample to lift the tip off the sample; (e) causing lateral relative motion between the sensing tip and the sample and positioning the tip so that the tip is above a location of the sample adjacent to and spaced apart from said one location; and (f) repeating steps (b) through (e) at a plurality of locations of the sample to obtain an image of the sample.