Manual control with force-feedback for probe microscopy-based force spectroscopy

1. A probe microscope comprising:

a probe;

a scanner for generating relative motion between said probe and a sample;

a manual input device having a substantially unlimited range of mechanical motion to control a separation between the sample and said probe;

a detector that generates a probe motion signal related to movement of said probe;

an alerting device responsive to said signal to provide substantially real-time feedback to an operator, the feedback being indicative of interaction between the sample and said probe.

2. The probe microscope of claim 1 , wherein said alerting device is a mechanical resistance device coupled to said manual input device.

3. The probe microscope of claim 2 , wherein said manual input device is a rotatable knob.

4. The probe microscope of claim 3 , wherein said resistance device is a passive resistance device that changes an amount of torque necessary to turn the knob.

5. The probe microscope of claim 4 , wherein said passive resistance device is a brake.

6. The probe microscope of claim 4 , wherein the amount of torque is related to a magnitude of the interaction.

7. The probe microscope of claim 3 , wherein said knob has a range of motion greater than 180°.

8. The probe microscope of claim 2 , wherein said resistance device is an active resistance device.

9. The probe microscope of claim 8 , wherein said active resistance device actively moves said manual input device.

10. The probe microscope of claim 2 , wherein the feedback produced by said resistance device is variable.

11. The probe microscope of claim 10 , wherein the probe motion signal is indicative of a tip-sample interaction, and wherein the variable resistance is related to the interaction.

12. The probe microscope of claim 1 , wherein the feedback produces an audible output, wherein the audible output is related to a magnitude of the interaction.

13. The probe microscope of claim 12 , wherein the audible output is one of a group including varying pitch and varying volume.

14. The probe microscope of claim 1 , further comprising

a displacement sensor that measures the relative motion between said probe and the sample and generates a corresponding position signal; and

a closed-loop feedback controller that generates a drive signal in response to the position signal.

15. The probe microscope of claim 1 , wherein the feedback is one of a group including substantially proportional, exponential and logarithmic with respect to the interaction.

16. The probe microscope of claim 1 , wherein said scanner provides the relative motion in at least two orthogonal directions.

17. A probe microscope comprising:

a probe;

a scanner for generating relative motion between said probe and a sample;

a linear manual input device to control a separation between the sample and said probe;

a detector that generates a probe motion signal related to movement of said probe; and

an alerting device responsive to said signal to provide substantially real-time feedback to an operator, the feedback being indicative of interaction between the sample and said probe.

18. The probe microscope of claim 17 , wherein said alerting device is a mechanical resistance device coupled to said manual input device.

19. The probe microscope of claim 18 , wherein said mechanical resistance device is a brake.