Appeal No. 1997-1430
Application No. 08/225,756
after final rejection filed December 26, 1995 and April 26,
1996 have been entered by the Examiner. In response to the
Appellants’ Brief on Appeal, the Examiner indicated the
allowability of claims 16-20, 23-27, and 30-34 in the
Supplemental Examiner’s Answer. Accordingly, this appeal now
involves only claims 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29.
The disclosed invention relates to a scanning near-field
optic/atomic force microscope for performing optical and
topography measurements of the surface of a sample. More
particularly, Appellants indicate at pages 5-10 of the
specification that the microscope includes a sharpened probe
having a hook-shaped front end portion and a light reflecting
portion for detecting deflections of the probe.
Claim 14 is illustrative of the invention and reads as
follows:
14. A scanning near-field optic/atomic force microscope for
observing topography and optical characteristics of a surface
of a sample, the microscope comprising:
a sharpened probe having a hook-shaped front end portion
provided with an optical hole for passing light at a sharpened
end thereof and having light-reflecting means on a part
thereof for reflecting light;
a light source and optics for irradiating the sample with
light;
2
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