
Contact AFM Mode
Initiate the Engage Command
96
MultiMode SPM Instruction Manual
Rev. B
What is happening?
The piezo is being retracted from the
Z scan start
position to the
Z scan start
-plus-
Scan size
position. The
Z scan start
point is at the left-most portion of the plot. The
Z scan start
-plus-
Scan
size
point is the right-most portion of the plot. This corresponds to the
Z Center Position
that was
being used while scanning just before starting Force Calibration. This means that the
Z scan start
is recalculated at every cycle to Force Calibration. The
Scan size
will be automatically changed if
its value is bigger than the difference between the
Z Center Position
and the fully retracted
position.
Procedure
When you
fi
rst enter force cal the graph will probably look like this:
The tip is being moved up and down above the surface without touching it. If the line is railed at the
top or bottom of the image click on the
Setpoint 0
button in the
Feedback
panel. Then you should
see the above graph. To get it to touch the surface you need to increase the
Scan start
. Doing this
with an arrow key works well. After a few key presses, you should see a graph similar to the one
shown here:
If the line slants to the bottom of the graph and stays there, the tip is sticking to the surface and not
popping off the surface when the tip is fully retracted. To get the tip clear of the surface, increase
the
Scan size
until you can see it come off.