Driving tip oscillation externally with signal generator

Eric posted on Tue, Apr 29 2014 12:52 PM

rated by 0 users

Hello,

We have an innova AFM.  We are interested in possibly driving the AFM tip in tapping mode with an external signal generator instead of the internal signal generator.  We would need to do this during autotune to find the resonant frequency and image scanning.  I was told that it might be possible to run the AFM in tapping mode but insulate the connections on the cartridge that drive the AFM tip from the controller and instead connect them to the external signal generator, but syncing the tuning sweep may be tricky.  

The reason is that we want to 1st mix this frequency and with another modulation in our measurement setup in the external signal generator software, then route the mixed product to a lock-in amplifier (outside the controller) and send the tip frequency to the AFM while sending the other original frequency to another piece of hardware.  

Any thoughts?  Thanks!