Non-contact atomic force microscopy characterization of micro-cantilevers and piezo electric transducers with frequencies up to the tens of MHz

We investigated the use of the non-contact atomic force microscopy (NCAFM) technique for evaluating high frequency mechanical vibrations. We demonstrated a clear resonance frequency ( f res) of ∼11.8 MHz measured from a 0.25 cm 2 piece Si placed on top of a driven PZT and probed by an AFM cantilever. We also showed that the probe cantilever in the NCAFM was able to follow the envelope of a Si on PZT vibration driven at 41 MHz frequency with a cyclic voltage. We showed that our method will not introduce a shift in the measured f res through comparison with the optically measured f res from a series of sample cantilevers using both mechanical excitation and the thermal noise-mechanical frequency spectra. These sample cantilevers were then measured under various conditions using the NCAFM resonance technique and the results showed a shift of