Bulk micromachined tunneling tips integrated with positioning actuators

Author

Mita, Makoto ; Kawara, Hiroaki ; Toshiyoshi, Hiroshi ; Endo, Junji ; Fujita, Hiroyuki

Author_Institution

Inst. of Space & Astronaut. Sci., Japan Aerosp. Exploration Agency, Kanagawa, Japan

Volume

14

Issue

1

fYear

2005

Firstpage

23

Lastpage

28

Abstract

We have successfully developed an integrated micromechanical system for controlling tunneling current. A pair of nanoscale tunneling tips have been integrated with a silicon micromachined electrostatic actuator of high-aspect ratio. The tip sharpness has been observed to be as sharp as commercial tips by scanning over surface of carbon graphite as an atom scale. We have also succeeded to observe the tunneling current in the air and in the vacuum condition (in TEM).

Keywords

etching; microactuators; scanning tunnelling microscopy; tunnelling; bulk micromachined tunneling tips; carbon graphite; commercial tips; deep-reactive ion etching; electrostatic actuator; high-aspect ratio; microactuators; micromechanical system; nanoscale tunneling tips; positioning actuators; scanning tunneling microscopy; tip sharpness; tunneling current control; vacuum condition; Aluminum; Control systems; Current density; Electrostatic actuators; Etching; Microactuators; Silicon; Springs; Transmission electron microscopy; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2004.838997

Filename

1390932