New control methodology of microcantilevers in atomic force microscopy

We apply an external feedback control technique to vibrating microcantilevers in atomic force microscopy. Here we have no difficulty in getting information on periodic orbits required for application of the external feedback control unlike controlling chaos since stable orbits are used as reference ones. This approach enables us not only to control vibrations of the cantilevers but also to measure the sample surfaces (surface topographies) simultaneously. The efficiency and validity of our approach is demonstrated by numerical simulations and a theoretical analysis with the assistance of numerical computations.