Publications

@article{J22a,

title = {Simultaneous tip force and displacement sensing for AFM cantilevers with on-chip actuation: Design and characterization for off-resonance tapping mode},

author = {N. F. S. de Bem and M. G. Ruppert and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/J22a.pdf},

doi = {10.1016/j.sna.2022.113496},

issn = {0924-4247},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-08},

urldate = {2022-03-08},

journal = {Sensors and Actuators A: Physical},

volume = {338},

pages = {113496},

abstract = {The use of integrated on-chip actuation simplifies the identification of a cantilever resonance, can improve imaging speed, and enables the use of smaller cantilevers, which is required for low-force imaging at high speed. This article describes a cantilever with on-chip actuation and novel dual-sensing capabilities for AFM. The dual-sensing configuration allows for tip displacement and tip force to be measured simultaneously. A mathematical model is developed and validated with finite element analysis. A physical prototype is presented, and its calibration and validation are presented. The cantilever is optimized for use in off-resonance tapping modes. Experimental results demonstrate an agreement between the on-chip sensors and external force and displacement measurements.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, DP170101813},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ruppert2022,

title = {Experimental Analysis of Tip Vibrations at Higher Eigenmodes of QPlus Sensors for Atomic Force Microscopy},

author = {M. G. Ruppert and D. Martin-Jimenez and Y. K. Yong and A. Ihle and A. Schirmeisen and A. J. Fleming and D. Ebeling},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/J22c.pdf},

doi = {10.1088/1361-6528/ac4759},

issn = {1361-6528},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-02-10},

urldate = {2022-02-10},

journal = {Nanotechnology},

volume = {33},

issue = {18},

pages = {185503},

abstract = {QPlus sensors are non-contact atomic force microscope probes constructed from a quartz tuning fork and a tungsten wire with an electrochemically etched tip. These probes are self-sensing and offer an atomic-scale spatial resolution. Therefore, qPlus sensors are routinely used to visualize the chemical structure of adsorbed organic molecules via the so-called bond imaging technique. This is achieved by functionalizing the AFM tip with a single CO molecule and exciting the sensor at the first vertical cantilever resonance mode. Recent work using higher-order resonance modes has also resolved the chemical structure of single organic molecules. However, in these experiments, the image contrast can differ significantly from the conventional bond imaging contrast, which was suspected to be caused by unknown vibrations of the tip. This work investigates the source of these artefacts by using a combination of mechanical simulation and laser vibrometry to characterize a range of sensors with different tip wire geometries. The results show that increased tip mass and length cause increased torsional rotation of the tuning fork beam due to the off-center mounting of the tip wire, and increased flexural vibration of the tip. These undesirable motions cause lateral deflection of the probe tip as it approaches the sample, which is rationalized to be the cause of the different image contrast. The results also provide a guide for future probe development to reduce these issues.},

note = {This work was supported in part by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {Actuator, AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, Multifrequency AFM, piezoelectric},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ruppert2021,

title = {Active atomic force microscope cantilevers with integrated device layer piezoresistive sensors},

author = {M. G. Ruppert and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/J21a.pdf},

doi = {10.1016/j.sna.2020.112519},

issn = {0924-4247},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-19},

urldate = {2021-01-19},

journal = {Sensors & Actuators: A. Physical},

volume = {319},

pages = {112519},

abstract = {Active atomic force microscope cantilevers with on-chip actuation and sensing provide several advantages over

passive cantilevers which rely on piezoacoustic base-excitation and optical beam deflection measurement. Active

microcantilevers exhibit a clean frequency response, provide a path-way to miniturization and parallelization and

avoid the need for optical alignment. However, active microcantilevers are presently limited by the feedthrough

between actuators and sensors, and by the cost associated with custom microfabrication. In this work, we propose

a hybrid cantilever design with integrated piezoelectric actuators and a piezoresistive sensor fabricated from the

silicon device layer without requiring an additional doping step. As a result, the design can be fabricated using a

commercial five-mask microelectromechanical systems fabrication process. The theoretical piezoresistor sensitivity

is compared with finite element simulations and experimental results obtained from a prototype device. The

proposed approach is demonstrated to be a promising alternative to conventional microcantilever actuation and

deflection sensing},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Sensors, Smart Structures},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ruppert2020,

title = {Amplitude Noise Spectrum of a Lock-in Amplifier: Application to Microcantilever Noise Measurements},

author = {M. G. Ruppert and N. J. Bartlett and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/J20f.pdf},

doi = {10.1016/j.sna.2020.112092},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-05-29},

urldate = {2020-05-29},

journal = {Sensors and Actuators A: Physical},

volume = {312},

pages = {112092},

abstract = {The lock-in amplifier is a crucial component in many applications requiring high-resolution displacement sensing; it's purpose is to estimate the amplitude and phase of a periodic signal, potentially corrupted by noise, at a frequency determined by a reference signal. Where the noise can be approximated by a stationary Gaussian process, such as thermal force noise and electronic sensor noise, this article derives the amplitude noise spectral density of the lock-in-amplifier output. The proposed method is demonstrated by predicting the demodulated noise spectrum of a microcantilever for dynamic-mode atomic force microscopy to determine the cantilever on-resonance thermal noise, the cantilever tracking bandwidth and the electronic noise floor. The estimates are shown to closely match experimental results over a wide range of operating conditions.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, Demodulation, DP170101813, MEMS, System Identification},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moore2020,

title = {AFM Cantilever Design for Multimode Q Control: Arbitrary Placement of Higher-Order Modes},

author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9006926},

doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2020.2975627},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-02-21},

urldate = {2020-02-21},

journal = { IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},

pages = {1-6},

abstract = {In the fast growing field of multifrequency atomic force microscopy (AFM), the benefits of using higher-order modes has been extensively reported on. However, higher modes of AFM cantilevers are difficult to instrument and Q control is challenging owing to their high frequency nature. At these high frequencies, the latencies in the computations and analog conversions of digital signal processing platforms become significant and limit the effective bandwidth of digital feedback controller implementations. To address this issue, this article presents a novel cantilever design for which the first five modes are placed within a 200 kHz bandwidth. The proposed cantilever is designed using a structural optimization routine. The close spacing and low mechanical bandwidth of the resulting cantilever allows for the implementation of Q controllers for all five modes using a standard FPGA development board for bimodal AFM and imaging on higher-order modes.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Multifrequency AFM, Smart Structures, SPM, Vibration Control},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moore2019c,

title = {An optimization framework for the design of piezoelectric AFM cantilevers},

author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141635919302260},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-08-15},

urldate = {2019-08-15},

journal = {Precision Engineering},

volume = {60},

pages = {130-142},

abstract = {To facilitate further miniaturization of atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers and to eliminate the standard optical beam deflection sensor, integrated piezoelectric actuation and sensing on the chip level is a promising option. This article presents a topology optimization method for dynamic mode AFM cantilevers that maximizes the sensitivity of an integrated piezoelectric sensor under stiffness and resonance frequency constraints. Included in the formulation is a new material model C-SIMP (connectivity and solid isotropic material with penalization) that extends the SIMP model to explicitly include the penalization of unconnected structures. Example cantilever designs demonstrate the potential of the topology optimization method. The results show, firstly, the C-SIMP material model significantly reduces connectivity issues and, secondly, arbitrary cantilever topologies can produce increases in sensor sensitivity or resonance frequency compared to a rectangular topology.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Piezoelectric Transducers and Drives, Smart Structures, SPM},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moore2019,

title = {Design and Analysis of Low-Distortion Demodulators for Modulated Sensors},

author = { S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and D. M. Harcombe and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong },

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/J19d-reduced.pdf},

doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2019.2928592},

issn = {10834435},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-07-17},

urldate = {2019-07-17},

journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},

volume = {24},

number = {4},

pages = {1861-1870},

abstract = {System-based demodulators in the form of a Kalman and Lyapunov filter have been demonstrated to significantly outperform traditional demodulators, such as the lock-in amplifier, in bandwidth sensitive applications, for example high-speed atomic force microscopy. Building on their closed loop architecture, this article describes a broader class of high-speed closed-loop demodulators. The generic structure provides greater flexibility to independently control the bandwidth and sensitivity to out-of-band frequencies. A linear time-invariant description is derived which allows the utilization of linear control theory to design the demodulator. Experimental results on a nanopositioner with capacitive sensors demonstrate the realization of arbitrary demodulator dynamics while achieving excellent noise rejection.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {Demodulation, DP170101813, Multifrequency AFM, Nanopositioning, SPM},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ruppert2018b,

title = {Multimodal atomic force microscopy with optimized higher eigenmode sensitivity using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing},

author = {M. G. Ruppert and S. I. Moore and M. Zawierta and A. J. Fleming and G. Putrino and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ruppert_2019_Nanotechnology_30_085503.pdf},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/aae40b},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-01-02},

urldate = {2019-01-02},

journal = {Nanotechnology},

volume = {30},

number = {8},

pages = {085503},

abstract = {Atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers with integrated actuation and sensing provide several distinct advantages over conventional cantilever instrumentation. These include clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical interference. While cantilever microfabrication technology has continuously advanced over the years, the overall design has remained largely unchanged; a passive rectangular shaped cantilever design has been adopted as the industry wide standard. In this article, we demonstrate multimode AFM imaging on higher eigenmodes as well as bimodal AFM imaging with cantilevers using fully integrated piezoelectric actuation and sensing. The cantilever design maximizes the higher eigenmode deflection sensitivity by optimizing the transducer layout according to the strain mode shape. Without the need for feedthrough cancellation, the read-out method achieves close to zero actuator/sensor feedthrough and the sensitivity is sufficient to resolve the cantilever Brownian motion.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Multifrequency AFM, Piezoelectric Transducers and Drives, Sensors, Smart Structures, SPM},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ruppert2017b,

title = {Note: Guaranteed collocated multimode control of an atomic force microscope cantilever using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing},

author = {M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017_JNote_RSI_Vol88_086109-2.pdf},

doi = {10.1063/1.4990451},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-08-15},

urldate = {2017-08-15},

journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},

volume = {88},

number = {086109},

abstract = {The quality (Q) factor is an important parameter of the resonance of the microcantilever as it determines

both imaging bandwidth and force sensitivity. The ability to control the Q factor of multiple

modes is believed to be of great benefit for atomic force microscopy techniques involving multiple

eigenmodes. In this paper, we propose a novel cantilever design employing multiple piezoelectric

transducers which are used for separated actuation and sensing, leading to guaranteed collocation

of the first eight eigenmodes up to 3 MHz. The design minimizes the feedthrough usually observed

with these systems by incorporating a guard trace on the cantilever chip. As a result, a multimode

Q controller is demonstrated to be able to modify the quality factor of the first two eigenmodes over

up to four orders of magnitude without sacrificing robust stability.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {AFM, Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Multifrequency AFM, Piezoelectric Transducers and Drives, System Identification, Vibration Control},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moore2017,

title = {Design and Characterization of Cantilevers for Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy},

author = {S. I. Moore and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/MNL.2016.0586.pdf},

doi = {10.1049/mnl.2016.0586},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-03-01},

urldate = {2017-03-01},

journal = {Micro & Nano Letters},

volume = {12},

number = {5},

pages = {315-320},

abstract = {The experimental characterisation of a set of microcantilevers targeted at use in multi-frequency atomic force microscope is presented. The aim of this work is to design a cantilever that naturally amplifies its harmonic oscillations which are introduced by nonlinear probe–sample

interaction forces. This is performed by placing the modal frequencies of the cantilever at integer multiples of the first modal frequency. The developed routine demonstrates the placement of the frequency of the second to fifth mode. The characterisation shows a trend that

lower-order modes are more accurately placed than higher-order modes. With two fabricated designs, the error in the second mode is at most 2.26% while the greatest error in the fifth mode is at 10.5%.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {Cantilever, DP170101813, MEMS, Multifrequency AFM, SPM},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Moore2017b,

title = {Multimodal cantilevers with novel piezoelectric layer topology for sensitivity enhancement},

author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},

url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2190-4286-8-38.pdf},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-02-06},

urldate = {2017-02-06},

journal = {Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology},

volume = {8},

pages = {358--371},

abstract = {Self-sensing techniques for atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers have several advantageous characteristics compared to the optical beam deflection method. The possibility of down scaling, parallelization of cantilever arrays and the absence of optical interference associated imaging artifacts have led to an increased research interest in these methods. However, for multifrequency AFM, the optimization of the transducer layout on the cantilever for higher order modes has not been addressed. To fully utilize an integrated piezoelectric transducer, this work alters the layout of the piezoelectric layer to maximize both the deflection of the cantilever and measured piezoelectric charge response for a given mode with respect to the spatial distribution of the strain. On a prototype cantilever design, significant increases in actuator and sensor sensitivities were achieved for the first four modes without any substantial increase in sensor noise. The transduction mechanism is specifically targeted at multifrequency AFM and has the potential to provide higher resolution imaging on higher order modes.},

note = {This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP170101813},

keywords = {Cantilever, DP170101813, Multifrequency AFM, Piezoelectric Transducers and Drives, SPM},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}