Title :
Microfabrication of oxidation-sharpened silicon tips on silicon nitride cantilevers for atomic force microscopy
Author :
Folch, Albert ; Wrighton, Mark S. ; Schmidt, Martin A.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Chem., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
fDate :
12/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We have developed a novel process for the microfabrication of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevered tips from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. The tip and cantilever are made of crystalline silicon and low-stress silicon nitride, respectively. This choice of materials allows us to sharpen the tips by oxidation sharpening without affecting the cantilever. We evaluated their performance in contact mode during imaging of artificial nanostructures and compared them to commercially available ones. The images acquired with our tips feature superior resolution on those samples
Keywords :
atomic force microscopy; elemental semiconductors; micromachining; microsensors; oxidation; semiconductor technology; silicon; silicon-on-insulator; AFM cantilevers; SOI wafers; Si; Si-Si3N4; atomic force microscopy; contact mode; crystalline Si; microfabrication; oxidation-sharpened Si tips; resolution; silicon nitride cantilevers; Atomic force microscopy; Chemical technology; Chemistry; Crystalline materials; Crystallization; Laboratories; Nanostructured materials; Oxidation; Silicon on insulator technology; Surface topography;
Journal_Title :
Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of
