Scanning probe having integrated silicon tip with cantilever
AssigneeApplied Nanostructures, Inc.
InventorsRakesh Poddar, Ami Chand
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cantilever-tip assembly for atomic force microscopy (AFM) or other scanning probe microscopy and its method of making based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Two crystalline silicon wafers and attached oxide and nitride layers are bonded together across an intermediate dielectric layer. A thin cantilever with a tetrahedral silicon probe tip at its distal end are formed in one wafer by anisotropic etching of silicon and a support structure is formed in the other wafer to support the proximal end of the cantilever preferably having an inclined face formed by anisotropic silicon etching. The cantilever may be silicon or silicon nitride.
Claims20
A method of fabricating a probe assembly, comprising the steps of:
- forming a first dielectric layer on a support substrate selected as one substrate from a first monocrystalline silicon substrate and a second moncrystalline silicon substrate;
- developing a cantilever pattern in the first dielectric layer;
- bonding the first and second silicon substrates together across the first dielectric layer, followed by the subsequent steps of:
- developing a support structure in a support substrate selected as another substrate from the first and second silicon substrates;
- separating from the support structure a distal end of a cantilever developed according to the cantilever pattern and supported on the support structure at a proximal end of the cantilever;
- and
- forming in the probe substrate a tetrahedral silicon tip projecting from a principal surface of the probe substrate in a direction away from the support substrate at a distal end of the cantilever.
A method of fabricating a probe assembly, comprising the steps of:
- forming a first dielectric layer on a first monocrystalline silicon substrate;
- etching a cantilever pattern in the first dielectric layer;
- bonding together the first silicon substrate and a second moncrystalline silicon substrate across the first dielectric layer;
- forming a cantilever having at its distal end a silicon tip formed out of the first silicon substrate;
- and
- forming a support structure in the second silicon substrate supporting a proximal end of the cantilever.
A probe assembly, comprising:
- a support structure comprising a monocrystalline silicon part;
- a cantilever including a first dielectric layer of a first composition having a proximal end supported on the support structure;
- a pedestal of a second dielectric layer of a second composition localized and supported on a distal end of the cantilever;
- and
- a monocrystalline silicon tip supported on the pedestal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.