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Patent abstract
A method and device for measuring an interaction between a probe and a sample, particularly suitable for scanning probe microscopy, mass and environmental measurements. The device includes a foil attached through an edge portion to a substrate, with the probe located at a point distant from said portion; the foil is free to make oscillations, according to a predetermined mode, of an amplitude correlated with the interaction, and has a surface with a piezoelectric layer on which an interdigitated transducer is arranged. The device also includes means for generating periodic signals, and means for transforming said signals into excitation voltages applied to the terminals of the transducer. In a basic realizable form, a frequency (ν*) signal causes periodic voltage-strain states through the transducer that result in an oscillation of the foil, with frequency (ν*). In an advantageous realizable form, means to determine the amplitude (D) of the oscillation use a periodic signal produced by the means and applied as an excitation voltage to the transducer, to which corresponds a reflected signal of amplitude dependent on the deformation (δ) amplitude (D) related to the interaction. A first advantageous form of realization involves the use of antennas to transmit the signals, and a second form of realization involves the use of an additional transducer interdigitated on the foil, so that the transducer can be arranged remotely from the probe so that the temperature of the sample is not altered during the measurement.