Instruction manual

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 first 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.