Image-based Modeling of the Lateral Axes of a Scanning Probe Microscope

In order to enable high-speed operation of scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), a dynamic model of the SPM's lateral nanopositioner is typically required (e.g for model inverse feedforward control). One of the primary difficulties associated with developing such models is the availability of nanoposition sensors, especially in very high resolution systems. In order to overcome this problem, a method capable of finding models of the individual SPM nanopositioner axes using only the SPM's imaging capabilities is presented. Specifically, images of a calibration sample acquired using a spiral scan trajectory are analyzed to determine frequency response information for the SPM's lateral positioning axes. The method is presented, followed by simulation results that show the feasibility of the approach.