Building a Scanning Probe Microscope Using Open Source Control Software and Systems

Abstract

A scanning probe microscope (SPM) operating in air and liquid was constructed using an open-source control software running on Linux, a correspondingly developed commercial SPM controller and a commercial STM head. The results are shown for highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and Au(111) substrate surfaces, which are typical samples for SPM measurements. The cost of building the system was much lower than that of commercial products with comparable performance. The system has great scalability, and can be applied to a various environment, such as ultra-high vacuum systems.