Patent ID: 8370960

Claim:
An atomic force microscope system operating to characterize a sample, comprising: an atomic force microscope cantilever; a view system that has optical features, including an objective lens located below the view system in the head system, which allow optical viewing in an area of the cantilever or of the sample; a head system that directs the optical beam onto the cantilever and obtains a return beam from the cantilever indicative of movement of the cantilever, said system including said objective lens which directs the optical beam to the back of the cantilever opposite the tip and a mechanism for translating the head system in the Z direction relative to the cantilever thereby enabling the optical beam to be brought into focus on the back of the cantilever; a scanner system that includes a holder for the cantilever, a holder for the sample which is mounted below the cantilever, a mechanism for scanning the sample in the X, Y and Z dimensions and a mechanism for translating the cantilever in the Z direction relative to the sample, said mechanism for translating the cantilever permitting the cantilever to move in tandem with the head system vertically downward in identical distances to the point where the tip of the cantilever engages the sample; and a mechanical path between the cantilever and the sample which includes only the scanner system and its subsystems, the cantilever holder and the sample holder, so that the noise coupled into images and measurements of the sample is minimized.