Samples are held in place on this scanner with a removable cap. This modified tripod scanner utilizes low voltage piezoelectric ceramics and temperature compensated strain gauges. Connections to the scanner are made with a 20-pin ribbon cable.
The PS-2010 and PS-2011 piezoelectric scanners are designed for use with the AFMWorkshop TT-2 AFM, and scan samples in the X, Y, and Z axis. Both products use temperature compensated strain gauges for linearizing scans in the X and Y axis. The PS-2010 has a temperature compensated strain gauge in the Z axis, while the PS-2011 does not. Both scanners use a modified tripod design for creating motion in the XY axis. Motion is generated through a lever arm. The lever arm in the 50 µm scanner is approximately 5:1 and in the 15 µm scanner it is 1:1. Animations on the AFMWorkshop website (www.afmworkshop.com) illustrate how the scanners operate. Each scanner contains a PC board with circuits for measuring ceramic motion with the strain gauge, as well as a 20 pin ribbon cable connector. The scanners are attached to the XY manual positioner with three M6 socket head screws.
Mounted on standard AFM metal disks, samples are held on an aluminum metal plate with two magnets. As shipped, the sample holder is electronically grounded to the microscope stage to help eliminate unwanted effects from sample charging. Included with each scanner is a leveling sample puck. The puck enables samples to be leveled, reducing the AFM image background bow to less than a few nanometers. The leveling sample puck is magnetically held to the sample stage, and has three set screws to level the puck relative to the XY scan axis.
Interchangeable
The 15 µm and the 50 µm scanners are interchangeable. The scanners are removed from the TT-2 AFM stage by simply unscrewing three M6 socket head screws and unplugging a 20 pin ribbon cable. It takes less than 5 minutes to remove one scanner and to replace it with the other scanner.
