Magnetoresistive sensor based scanning probe microscopy

Integrated sensors are essential for scanning probe microscopy (SPM) based systems where a large number of cantilevers are employed in parallel for high-throughput. However, common integrated sensors such as piezoresistive, piezoelectric, capacitive and thermoelectric, suffer from low bandwidth and/or low resolution. In this work, a novel magnetoresistive (MR) sensor based scanning probe microscopy technique is presented which can detect the deflection of the cantilever with nano-scale resolution and a bandwidth in excess of 1 MHz. This technique is suitable for high-speed imaging using integrated sensors which can be fabricated using micro-electromechanical-system (MEMS) and thin-film technology to make large scale parallel-SPM devices.