Force feedback microscopy based on an optical beam deflection scheme

Force feedback microscopy circumvents the jump to contact in atomic force microscopy when using soft cantilevers and quantitatively measures the interaction properties at the nanoscale by simultaneously providing force, force gradient, and dissipation. The force feedback microscope developed so far used an optical cavity to measure the tip displacement. In this Letter, we show that the more conventional optical beam deflection scheme can be used to the same purpose. With this instrument, we have followed the evolution of the Brownian motion of the tip under the influence of a water bridge.