JPH05133738A - Probe, probe holder, their combination, and scanning microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make probe replacement in a short time by equipping a probe holder with a guide part which makes probe movable only in one direction. and providing the probe with a fitting part which is engaged by the guide part. CONSTITUTION:The spacing 8c of the foremost parts of rails 8a, 8b of a probe holder 44 is equal to the spacing 4c of the backmost part in guide grooves 4a, 4b provided in a probe 49. When the probe 49 is set in the holder 44. the guide grooves 4a, 4b are fitted on the rails 8a, 8b, respectively, so that the body 3 of the probe 49 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the rails 8a, 8b. The detecting needle 1 of the probe 49 can be accommodated in a protection groove 9 in the probe holder 44, not contacting it, so that the needle 1 is prevented from breakage. In case a plurality of such probes 49 are put in line so that their edges 3a, 3c contact one another, a cantilever part 2 will be accommodated in a recess 20 in the adjoining probe 49, and there is no likelihood of damaging the cantilever part 2. According to this constitution, probe replacement can be done easily in a short time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe and a probe holder used in a scanning microscope, and more particularly to a probe and a probe holder suitable for an atomic force microscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a scanning microscope such as an atomic force microscope has a structure in which only one probe is attached to a probe holder of the microscope. A fixing screw and a fixing spring are arranged in the probe holder, and when the fixing screw is tightened, the fixing spring presses the probe against the probe holder to fix the probe.

When exchanging the probe, the probe fixing screw and the fixing spring of the probe holder are removed, the probe is taken out with tweezers, then the probe to be mounted next is mounted, the fixing spring and the fixing screw are reattached, and the fixing screw is tightened to tighten the probe. To fix. Further, in the case of an atomic force microscope, the positions of the cantilever portion of the probe and the displacement detecting laser beam must be accurately matched.
Therefore, after loosening the fixing screw that has been tightened once, while checking the position of the laser beam, the probe can be moved by poking the probe with tweezers etc. to tighten the fixing screw. It is necessary to repeat until the positions of and match exactly.

[0004]

In the conventional probe and probe holder, since the screw is rotated when tightening the fixing screw, a rotational force is applied to the probe,
Even if the probe and the laser beam were perfectly aligned with each other, misalignment would occur when tightening the fixing screw, so repeated alignment had to be performed. Therefore, replacement of the probe requires a great deal of time for alignment and skill of the operator.

Further, the probe erected on the cantilever portion of the probe is easily damaged, and if it is damaged during the observation, the observation is interrupted and the probe is often replaced. Further, there are a plurality of types of probes, and they are used properly according to the observation sample. Therefore, even if the probe is not damaged, the probe is often replaced before the observation.

Therefore, it requires a lot of time and skill to replace the probe, which causes a problem that the efficiency of observation and the operating rate of the microscope are lowered. In particular, when the probe is replaced during the observation, the observation is forced to be interrupted for a long time, which not only lowers the observation efficiency but also adversely affects the sample such as degeneration and deterioration. There is a problem of coming. Furthermore, when observation is performed in water or gas atmosphere or in vacuum, it is necessary to return to atmospheric air once, replace the probe, and then return to water or gas atmosphere or vacuum again. You have to break time.

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a probe and a probe holder for a scanning microscope which can easily replace the probe in a short time.

[0008]

The above object is to provide one or more probes having a flexible cantilever portion and a probe, and a probe holder for holding the probe, wherein the probe holder is the probe. This is achieved by having a guide that makes the movable only in one direction.

The probe may have a fitting portion that fits into the guide portion of the probe holder. In addition, the probe may have a recess for contacting the adjacent probe without contacting the cantilever portion of the adjacent probe. In this case, one or more probes can be arranged in series on the holder without damaging the cantilevers.

[0010]

The one or more probes having the flexible cantilever portion and the probe can be moved only in one direction by being guided by the guide portion of the probe holder for holding the probe. By providing the guide portion in this way, the movement of the probe in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the guide portion is accurately restrained, and the probe can be moved only in the longitudinal direction.
By reducing the movement direction, the alignment difficulty can be reduced by at least half compared to the conventional alignment with two degrees of freedom.

Further, in the case where the probe is provided with a recess for contacting the adjacent probe without contacting the cantilever portion of the adjacent probe, by accommodating the easily damaged cantilever in the recess, a plurality of safe cantilevers can be safely stored. The probe can be set in the probe holder. Conventionally, the operation of opening the probe holder and inserting and fixing the next probe is performed every time one probe is replaced, but if a plurality of probes, for example, ten probes can be set at one time, it will be performed once in ten times. You only have to do it once. That is, after setting a plurality of probes in the holder, it is sufficient to perform only the alignment without opening the holder until all the plurality of probes are used.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 3 of the probe 49 of the present invention has a shape in which a concave portion 20 is provided on one side 3c of a square plate made of silicon and having a thickness of 3t. A side 3a facing the side 3c provided with the recess 20 of the main body 3.
A flexible thin film-shaped cantilever portion 2 is extended in the. At the tip of the cantilever portion 2, a probe 1 having a small tip curvature radius is erected. Guide grooves 4a and 4b having a V-shaped cross section are formed along the sides 3b and 3d orthogonal to the sides 3a and 3c of the main body 3. The length and width of the recess 20 of the main body 3 are sufficiently larger than the length and width of the cantilever portion 2. As shown in FIG. 2, when a plurality of probes 49 are arranged in series so that the sides 3 a and 3 c are in contact with each other, the cantilever portion 2 is configured such that the adjacent probes 49 are connected to each other.
It does not damage the cantilever portion 2 because it fits in the concave portion 20 of the cantilever portion 2.

Next, the probe holder 44 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Glass side plates 6a and 6b are fixed to the axial side faces of the plate-shaped silicon bottom plate 5 extending in one direction. A leaf spring 7 bent in an S-shape is detachably attached to the side plate 6a by bending the side plate 6a in the thickness direction by bending. Side plates 6a and 6b
6c is slightly larger than the width 3e of the probe 49. A protective groove 9 having a rectangular cross section is formed in the center of the upper surface of the bottom plate 5 in the axial direction. The width 9a of the protective groove 9 is sufficiently larger than the width 2a of the cantilever 2 of the probe 49, and the depth 9b of the protective groove 9 is sufficiently larger than the length 1a of the probe 1 of the probe 49. Further, on both sides of the protective groove 9 having a rectangular cross section, rail portions 8a, 8 having a chevron cross section are formed in the axial direction.
b is formed. The distance 8c between the tip portions of the rail portions 8a and 8b is equal to the distance 4c between the deepest portions of the guide grooves 4a and 4b of the probe 49.

Therefore, the probe 49 is attached to the probe holder 4
When set to 4, rail 8 of probe holder 44
The guide grooves 4a and 4b of the probe 49 are fitted into the rails 8a and 8b of the probe holder 44, respectively, so that the main body 3 of the probe 49 can move in the longitudinal direction of a and 8b.
Further, the probe 1 of the probe 49 fits in the protection groove 9 of the probe holder 44 and does not contact the probe holder 44, so that the probe 1 can be set without damaging it.

Probe 49 and probe holder 44
Has a structure as described above, a plurality of probes 49 can be arranged in series and set in the probe holder 44 at one time. The number of probes 49 that can be set is determined by the length of the probe holder 44 in the longitudinal direction. When setting the probe 49, the leaf spring 7 of the probe holder 44 is once removed, the plurality of probes 49 are arranged so that the guide grooves 4a, 4b and the rails 8a, 8b are fitted, and then the probe 49z at the rear end is arranged. The tip of the probe 49
Push in the direction of “a”, and as shown in FIG. 2, adjacent probes are brought into contact with the sides 3 a and 3 c of the main body 3 and arranged in series. Then, the leaf spring 7 is attached again, each probe 49 is pressed against the probe holder 44, and the probe 4 is moved by the vibration during observation.
Fix it so that 9 does not slip or fall. At the time of observation, the probe 49z at the rear end is pushed in the direction of arrow 50, and the cantilever portion 2 of the probe 49a at the front end is projected from the holder as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, since the leaf spring 7 is used to fix the probe 49, the probe 49z at the rear end is pushed to move the probe 49 in one direction with the probe 49 still set in the probe holder 44. Can be made Further, although the probe 49 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the rails 8a and 8b, it does not shift in the orthogonal direction, so that the alignment can be easily performed. When the guide grooves 4a and 4b and the rails 8a and 8b are produced by photolithography, the amount of deviation (play) in the orthogonal direction can be set to 1 μm or less.

As shown in FIG. 4, the probe holder is fixed to a probe coarse moving stage 42 installed on a base 41 of an atomic force microscope via an arm 42a. A displacement detector 43 for detecting the amount of bending of the cantilever portion 2 of the probe 49 is also fixed to the probe coarse movement stage 42. The alignment of the laser beam emitted from the displacement detector 43 and the cantilever 2 of the probe 49 is
It suffices to align the position of the probe 49 only in the direction of the rails 8a and 8b, and the positions can be easily matched. Further, since a plurality of probes 49 can be set in the probe holder, when exchanging the probe, the probe 49z at the rear end is pushed and the probe at the front end is pushed out from the holder and dropped. Is projected from the probe holder 44 and can be observed.

If the probe 49 is damaged during the observation, the probe rough moving stage 42 or the sample rough moving stage 45 is driven to retract the sample 47 from immediately below the probe 49, and at the dropping position of the probe 49, the storage box is placed. Four
Place 8 In this state, the probe 49z at the rear end is pushed to drop the probe 49a into the storage box 48,
Observation can be restarted by setting a new probe 49b and moving the sample directly below the probe by the probe coarse movement stage 42 or the sample coarse movement stage 45 again. By doing so, the probe can be exchanged quickly without damaging the sample, and thus the obstacle to the observation can be greatly shortened as compared with the conventional case.

Further, a jig for pushing the rear end probe 49z set in the probe holder 44 can be attached to the probe holder or the base 41. As a jig for pushing the probe 49z, for example, a device that drives a rack and a pinion with a pulse motor can be used. If you are observing in the water or in a gas atmosphere or in a vacuum, etc., and disconnecting from the outside world, you can remotely replace the probe by operating this jig remotely from the outside world. You can

An example of the material and manufacturing method of the probe 49 and the probe holder 44 of the present invention will be described.
As the material of the probe main body 3, a short silicon crystal with 100 plane orientation is used, and a silicon oxide film to be the probe 1 and the cantilever portion 2 is formed by a chemical vapor deposition method or a thermal oxidation method. Next, the cantilever portion 2, the guide grooves 4a and 4b, and the recess 20 are patterned by photolithography, and unnecessary portions are immersed and removed in an alkali etching solution to complete the probe 49. The cantilever part 2 is
Not limited to the silicon oxide film, it can be formed of silicon nitride and various metal films.

In the probe holder 44, a silicon plate is used for the bottom plate 5, and the rails 8a and 8b and the protective groove 9 are formed by the photolithography method. Next, the glass side plate 6 is bonded by the anodic bonding method,
The S-shaped leaf spring is attached to complete the probe holder 44. In this embodiment, the side of the main body 3 is 2 to 3 mm, the thickness is 200 to 300 μm, and the thickness of the cantilever portion 2 is about 1 μm.
m, a width of about 20 μm, a guide 49 having a width of 20 to 30 μm, and a probe holder 44 of a rail 8 having a width of 20 to 30 μm. In this case, the play between the probe 49 and the probe holder 44 in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rail can be set to 1 μm or less. In this example,
Although the guide groove 4 having a V-shaped cross section and the rail 8 having a chevron section were used, the present invention is not limited to this, and a rail having a chevron section may be provided on the probe and a guide groove having a V-shaped section may be provided on the probe holder. The same effect can be obtained. Further, the guide groove 4 may have a rectangular cross section, a stepped portion, or the like. Further, it is possible to guide the side surface of the probe main body 3 by contacting the side surface plate 6 of the probe holder without forming the guide groove and the rail.

The above-mentioned 10 probes 49 are set in series on the probe holder 44, and the total of 10 probe replacement times and alignment times is obtained. Compared with. As a result, it was found that the replacement could be done in less than half the time required by conventional methods. Also, this is a comparison at the time of observation in the atmosphere, but in observation in the state of being shielded from the outside air such as in water, gas atmosphere, or in vacuum, it is possible to continue observation without breaking the interruption to the outside air. Since it was possible, the efficiency was higher and the replacement was possible in less than 1/3 of the time.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a stopper 60 can be provided at the tip of the probe holder. When the stopper 60 is provided, if the probe is continuously pressed until it hits the stopper 60, the laser beam of the displacement detector can be automatically aligned. In this case, the bottom plate 5 has a storage part for storing the stopper 60 therein, and the stopper 6 according to an operator's instruction.
A drive unit for projecting 0 on the bottom plate 5 or storing it inside is arranged. When replacing the probe 49, store the stopper 60 inside the bottom plate 5,
The probe at the front end is dropped by pushing the probe at the rear end. The probe at the tip falls when the center of gravity protrudes from the tip of the bottom plate, that is, when the center of gravity that is slightly on the tip side from the half of the main body jumps out from the tip. At this time, since the tip of the main body of the next probe has not reached the stopper 60, the stopper 60 is projected. Furthermore, the tip of the body of the next probe is
The probe at the rear end is pushed and aligned until it hits the stopper 60. The operator can also take out the probe at the tip end with tweezers and replace it. At this time, it is not necessary to store the stopper 60 inside the bottom plate 5. In this way stopper 60
In case of providing the probe, the positional relationship is calculated in advance and the probe 49
And design and make the probe holder 44.

Further, in the present embodiment, the leaf spring is used to fix the probe 49 to the probe holder, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to fix it with a vacuum chuck or the like. Further, in the present embodiment, the concave portion 20 is provided on the side of the probe main body 3 facing the cantilever portion 2, and the cantilever portion 2 of the adjacent probe is formed into the concave portion 20.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, the cantilever portion 2 is protected by the recess 200 of the probe itself.
The cantilever portion 2 can be extended to protect the cantilever portion 2.
In this case, if the cantilever portion is bent downward as shown in FIG. 5, it is easy to observe. Further, in this case, the depth 9b of the protective groove 9 of the probe holder 44 is made deep in consideration of the bending of the cantilever portion 2.

Further, the contact portion between the probe and the probe holder may be coated with a thin film of a material having a small friction coefficient such as Teflon. In this case, the friction between the probe and the probe holder is reduced, and the probe slips better.

By using the present invention as described above,
Since the probe and the probe holder having high operability are provided, the probe can be efficiently replaced.

[0026]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, by using the present invention, it is possible to provide a scanning microscope equipped with a probe and a probe holder, which allows easy probe replacement in a short time and has good operability. ..

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of probes can be set in the probe holder at one time. These probes can be moved only in one direction, but can be easily aligned because they are constrained in the other direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a probe of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing a state where the probes of FIG. 1 are arranged in series.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a probe holder of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an atomic force microscope equipped with a probe and a probe holder of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view and a side view showing another example of the probe of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a probe holder when a stopper is attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Probe, 2 ... Cantilever part, 3 ... Probe body, 4
... Guide groove, 5 ... Bottom plate, 6 ... Side plate, 7 ...
Leaf spring, 8 ... rail, 9 ... probe protection groove, 41 ... atomic force microscope base, 42 ... probe coarse movement stage, 43 ...
Displacement detector, 44 ... Probe holder, 45 ... Rough sample moving stage, 46 ... XYZ stage, 47 ... Sample, 48 ...
Storage box, 49 ... Probe, 60 ... Stopper.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Takashi Matsubara 1-6-3 Nishioi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Nikon Oi Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A combination of one or more probes having a flexible cantilever portion and a probe and a probe holder for holding the probe, wherein the probe holder can move the probe only in one direction. A combination of a probe and a probe holder, which has a guide part. 2. The combination of a probe and a probe holder according to claim 1, wherein the probe has a fitting portion that fits into the guide portion. 3. The probe and probe holder according to claim 1, wherein the one or more probes have a recess for contacting an adjacent probe without contacting a cantilever portion of the adjacent probe. Combination of. 4. In a probe having a flexible cantilever portion and a probe, which is held by a probe holder, a guide portion for fitting with the probe holder and a cantilever portion of an adjacent probe are in contact with each other. A probe having a recess for contacting adjacent probes without a probe. 5. A probe holder for holding at least one probe having a flexible cantilever portion and a probe, having a guide portion for fitting with the probe, and the probe in only one direction. A probe holder characterized by being movable. 6. A scanning microscope having one or more probes having a flexible cantilever portion and a probe, and a probe holder for holding the probe, wherein the probe holder is one-way probe. A scanning microscope, characterized in that it has a guide part that is movable only in the front part, and the probe has a fitting part that fits into the guide part.