Linear Z-stage Design for the positioning of an AFM scanstage

Linear Z-stage Design for the positioning of an AFM scanstage

Kramer, Arnoud (TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)

Spronck, J.W. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Mechanical Engineering | Mechatronic System Design (MSD)

2018-03-19

In collaboration with the technical university of Twente, Leiden Probe Microscopy (LPM) has built an instrument to study thin film oxide growth during pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Thin filmed (perovskite) oxides have evoked an interest of material scientist, because they inhibit physical properties such as superconductivity, ferromagnetism, ferro- and dielectricity.
Gaining more insight into the growth of such thin oxide films could provide the knowledge to control their fabrication layer by layer and thus fabricate ‘smart materials’, combining the various physical properties in a tailored manner.

This research intends to use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the oxide growth in situ. In contrast to the commonly used method RHEED, the high spatial resolution in the order of (sub)nanometers enables an AFM to capture the local growth of islands and the nucleation density.

The growing interest in in situ studies with atomic force microscopy is increasing demands on performance and in particular speed. The research in this thesis focuses on just that: the quality of the image taken by an AFM under high operating speeds. The instrument developed by LPM proves unable to retain its precision when operating speeds exceed a 20 Hz line rate. Identifying and resolving the main limiting factor of the developed instrument will be the key purpose of the work done in this thesis.

AFM
Linear stage

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:479b6e60-0521-49ed-9431-a3640c35d281

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Arnoud Kramer