Fractionized calibration of the sample stage used in an AFM-probe mechanical testing system

Atomic force microscope (AFM) is increasingly used to measure the micro/nanoscale or local mechanical properties of materials and structures. This leads to the calibration and control of its sample's stage to become an important issue, especially for a precise measurement of the displacement load and the deflection of the AFM cantilever beam. In this paper, the temporal speckle pattern interferometry (TSPI) is applied to fractionally calibrate a piezoelectric transducer (PZT)-typed sample stage in our AFM-probe micro/nano mechanical testing system. The calibration includes two parts: one for fractionized calibration of the sample stage which is used to provide the displacement loading and sample support, and the hierarchy displacement calibration with a range from micrometers to several nanometers based on the sequence analysis of the TSPI, the other for calibration of the AFM-probe testing system by which the relationship between the displacement of the sample stage and the deflection of the cantilever beam of the AFM-probe system is obtained. The system's performance is demonstrated by testing the coupling deformations of two microcantilever beam samples and the AFM-probe testing system.