Patent ID: 7279046

Claim:
An SPM system for aligning positions of a first SPM tip with a second SPM tip, comprising: a processor configured to control the operation of the first SPM tip and the second SPM tip adjacent to an SPM sample; and a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory comprising a plurality of instructions executed by the processor, the plurality of instructions configured to: identify first location information that includes a location of the first SPM tip and a sample reference location on the SPM sample when the first SPM tip is adjacent to the SPM sample; store the first location information in a storage area; identify second location information including a location of the second SPM tip and the sample reference location on the SPM sample when the second SPM tip is adjacent to the SPM sample; calculate a displacement between the location of the second SPM tip and the first SPM tip based on the first and second location information; and translate either the second SPM tip or a stage supporting the SPM sample to align the second SPM tip with the location of the first SPM tip in accordance with the calculated displacement.