Novel electronics for high-speed FM-AFM in life science applications

In this paper we present a novel system architecture for high-speed FM-AFM electronics. The proposed system consists of a PLL-based FM demodulator preceded by a SSB modulator and driving electronics ensuring a stable self-oscillation of the cantilever. Thanks to the SSB upconverion preceding the FM-demodulator, the system allows for demodulation bandwidths as large as the cantilever resonance frequency, opening up the way to real-time FM-AFM of biological processes. Electrical measurements of a PCB-based prototype verify the proposed architecture.