In order to meet the requirements of nondestructive testing of true 3D topography of micro-nano structures,a novel three-dimensional atomic force microscope(3D-AFM)based on flared tip is developed.A high-precision scanning platform is designed to achieve fast servo through moving probe and sample simultaneously,and several combined nanopositioning stages are used to guarantee linearity and orthogonality of displacement.To eliminate the signal deviation caused by AFM-head movement,a traceable optical lever system is designed for cantilever deformation detection.In addition,a method of tailoring the cantilever of commercial probe with flared tip is proposed to reduce the lateral force applied on the tip in measurement.The tailored probe is mounted on the 3D-AFM,and 3D imaging experiments are conducted on different samples by use of adaptive-angle scanning strategy.The results show the roob-mean-square value of the vertical displacement noise(RMS)of the prototype is less than 0.1 nm and the high/width measurement repeatability(peak-to-peak)is less than 2.5 nm.
