Probe drive mechanism and electronic device which uses the same
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMasaru Nakayama, Osamu Takamatsu, Takayuki Yagi, Keisuke Yamamoto, Takehiko Kawasaki, Yasuhiro Shimada, Yoshio Suzuki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A probe drive mechanism includes a cantilever portion in which a piezoelectric layer is disposed between electrode layers, and a circuit portion which is positioned adjacent to the cantilever portion and drives the cantilever. The cantilever portion and the circuit portion are formed on the same substrate. A protection layer covers the circuit portion and part of the substrate, and the cantilever portion is formed on the protection layer adjacent to the circuit portion.
Claims33
A probe drive mechanism, comprising:
- a cantilever portion having a piezoelectric layer disposed between electrode layers, a micro-tip for detecting a tunnel current and an electrode for receiving said tunnel current;
- a processing circuit portion, positioned adjacent to said cantilever portion, which drives said cantilever portion and detects and amplifies said tunnel current;
- a substrate for supporting said cantilever portion and said processing portion;
- and
- a protection layer covering said circuit portion and a portion of said substrate, wherein said cantilever portion is formed on said protection layer adjacent to said processing circuit portion.
A probe drive mechanism, comprising:
- a cantilever portion having a piezoelectric layer disposed between electrode layers, a micro-tip for detecting a tunnel current and an electrode for receiving said tunnel current;
- a processing circuit portion positioned adjacent to said cantilever portion which drives said cantilever portion and detects and amplifies said tunnel current;
- a substrate for supporting said cantilever portion and said circuit portion;
- and
- a protection layer covering said circuit portion and a portion of said substrate, wherein said cantilever portion is formed on said protection layer adjacent to said circuit portion, and said piezoelectric layer of said cantilever portion is composed of a plurality of stacked layers having polarization axes in different polarization directions.
A multiple probe drive mechanism, comprising:
- a plurality of probe drive mechanisms, each comprising:
- a cantilever portion having a piezoelectric layer disposed between electrode layers, a micro-tip for detecting a tunnel current and an electrode for receiving the tunnel current;
- a processing circuit portion, positioned adjacent to said cantilever portion, which drives said cantilever portion and detects and amplifies the tunnel current;
- a substrate for supporting said cantilever portion and said processing portion;
- and
- a protection layer covering said circuit portion and a portion of said substrate, wherein said cantilever portion is formed on said protection layer adjacent to said processing circuit portion, wherein
- said probe drive mechanisms are formed on the same substrate.
A scanning tunnel microscope, comprising:
- a cantilever portion having a piezoelectric layer disposed between electrode layers, a micro-tip for detecting a tunnel current and an electrode for receiving the tunnel current;
- a processing circuit portion, positioned adjacent to said cantilever portion, which drives said cantilever portion and detects and amplifies the tunnel current;
- a substrate for supporting said cantilever portion and said processing portion;
- a protection layer covering said circuit portion and a portion of said substrate, wherein said cantilever portion is formed on said protection layer adjacent to said processing circuit portion;
- means for relatively moving said micro-tip with respect to a sample having a surface to be observed;
- means for applying voltage between said micro-tip and the sample;
- and
- means for detecting an electric current which passes between said micro-tip and the sample.
A method of using a probe drive mechanism in a scanning tunnel microscope, the probe drive mechanism having a cantilever portion with a piezoelectric layer disposed between electrode layers, a micro-tip for detecting a tunnel current and an electrode for receiving said tunnel current, a processing circuit portion, positioned adjacent to the cantilever portion, which drives the cantilever portion and detects and amplifies the tunnel current, a substrate for supporting the cantilever portion and the processing portion, a protection layer covering the circuit portion and a portion of said substrate, wherein the cantilever portion is formed on the protection layer adjacent to the processing circuit portion, said method comprising the steps of:
- relatively moving the micro-tip with respect to a sample having a surface to be observed;
- applying a voltage between the micro-tip and the sample, and
- detecting an electric current which passes between the micro-tip and the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.