Simple low-drift heating stage for scanning probe microscopes

Abstract

A simple low-cost heating stage for scanning probe microscopes has been developed. The goal of this design is to minimize the drift due to thermal expansion of the sample and of the heater itself both in the vertical and the in-plane directions. It is composed of materials with different thermal expansion coefficients. The key point is to adjust the relative length of the different elements in such a way that the sample surface’s position is fixed when temperature changes. It has been proven to drift laterally less than 60 nm per degree and vertically less than 42 nm per degree. It allows one to access temperatures up to 150 °C. This stage can be adapted to most commercial microscopes and does not require modifications of the microscope itself. The design of the heating stage is presented with calibration results providing the good thermal stability of the design.

Construction and characterization of a heating stage for a scanning probe microscope up to 215 °C

“…9 Another possibility was to construct suitable heating stages. [9][10][11] Recently, Higgins et al constructed an AFM working in aqueous solution whose sample stage could be operated up to 150°C. 12 To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest temperature even obtained in an ambient AFM.…”

Fast heating stage for open liquid-cell atomic force microscopy

“…Only a few designs have proposed the use of a heating stage with a liquid cell, [11][12][13][14] because of the limitations associated with thermal expansion, such as horizontal-vertical thermal drift, high weight on the scanner, thermal insulation, and intrinsic distortion of the piezoelectric tube. 15 Therefore, thermal insulation of the heating stage and the minimization of image distortion for a liquid cell are key issues.…”

“…Therefore, several experimental designs have previously been developed for the use of low 8 and elevated temperatures. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Most of the elevated temperature designs were used for commercial AFM's ͑Digital Instrument͒ [9][10][11][12][13] in air, and resistive heating of the sample mount is commonly used. Only a few designs have proposed the use of a heating stage with a liquid cell, [11][12][13][14] because of the limitations associated with thermal expansion, such as horizontal-vertical thermal drift, high weight on the scanner, thermal insulation, and intrinsic distortion of the piezoelectric tube.…”

Stability enhancement of an atomic force microscope for long-term force measurement including cantilever modification for whole cell deformation

“…8,9,10 Approaches including intermittent substrate referencing between force measurements 11 or the use of reference sensors 12,13,14,15 can be applied to counteract, rather than prevent, thermal drift in the vertical direction (z-drift). However, intermittent substrate referencing is unsuitable when the cell dimensions exceed the lateral range of the AFM scanner or when continuous contact between the sphere and cell is a requirement.…”