Abstract
There have been researches on a self-excited cantilever beam for atomic force microscopy (AFM), in order to increase the low quality factor Q of the cantilever in liquid enviroments. For the realization of the non-contact AFM, it is necessary to control the stable steady state amplitude of the self-excited cantilever to be small. We proposed that we can realize the stable steady state amplitude of of the self-excited cantilever by applying nonlinear feedback proportional to the squared deflection and the velocity. In this study, we develop the AFM using a "van der Pol" type self-excited cantilever beam. Then, we confirm the availability and the advantage of the "van der Pol" type self-excited cantilever beam.
