Past exam of the MPhil in micro- and nanotechnology enterprise course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / Paper 1 / Section A(i) / 2 / i / b

With gains too low for the scan speed, the vertical response lags the surface. On entering the depression during the left-to-right trace, the tip descends too slowly and the recorded edge rounds or extends into the trench. On climbing out, the tip can approach or contact the rising feature before the controller lifts it sufficiently, again distorting the edge. Thus the error depends on scan direction and can differ between trace and retrace. Slower scanning can reduce this bandwidth limitation, but it does not correct the geometrical inability to probe an overhang.