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Samsung patents machine that swaps tips to measure material depth

Samsung has been granted a patent for a testing device that uses a mechanical arm to swap between different shaped tips. One tip cuts or mills the sample to a specific depth, while another scans the surface to gather structural data. The system uses sensors to adjust the force and distance between the tip and the sample to control how deep it cuts.

Why it mattersThis improves the precision of material analysis by automating the process of cutting and scanning samples, which is useful for researchers studying the internal structure of materials.

In the filing’s own words

A test apparatus includes a movable stage to support a sample, tips above the stage that have different shapes and alternately perform profiling and milling on the sample, a tip stage connected to a cantilever coupled to the tips, the tip stage to adjust a position of the cantilever, a position sensor to obtain information about a positional relationship between the tips and the sample, a stage controller to control movements of the stage and the tip stage, based on the information about the positional relationship, and a tip controller to select the tips for performing the profiling or milling and to determine conditions for performing milling, wherein a depth of the sample being processed by the milling in the first direction is controlled based on a relationship between a distance between the tips and the sample and a force between the tips and the sample.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A test method, comprising: disposing a sample on an upper surface of a sample stage; performing pre-profiling on a surface of the sample using a first tip coupled to a cantilever; replacing the first tip on the cantilever with a second tip, the second tip having a shape different from a shape of the first tip; milling the sample using the second tip; replacing the second tip on the cantilever with a third tip, the third tip having a shape different from the shape of the first tip and the shape of the second tip; profiling the sample using the third tip; repeatedly performing the milling and the profiling until the sample supported on the sample stage reaches a predetermined depth; and obtaining a structural information from the surface of the sample at the predetermined depth, wherein during the milling, a milling depth for the sample is controlled based on a distance between the second tip and the sample and a force between the second tip and the sample.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Test apparatus and test method thereof
Patent number
US12768859B2
Application number
18783575
Filed
Jul 25, 2024
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
9
Claims
8

Classified under

G01R 1/06727 Physics & computingG01R 1/04 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.