Slip-stick step-scanner for scanning probe microscopy

A slip-stick positioning system is shown to work as a step-by-step scanning device. Scanning confocal optical images with sizes up to 100 μm by 100 μm were taken in reflectivity using a 635 nm wavelength laser and an objective of numerical aperture = 0.8. The images were taken under ambient and cryogenic conditions on samples with periodic patterns as well as with nanomechanical systems. They show exceptional low distortion and high linearity. The use of the slip-stick step motion for image scanning simplifies the scanning confocal microscope since the long-range positioning unit and the scanning unit merge into only one unit that can do both.