Method of fabricating probe for scanning probe microscope

A method of fabricating a probe including a cantilever, a body supporting said cantilever and a tip formed at an end of the cantilever, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a silicon substrate having <110> directional crystal structure as a starting wafer, wherein the substrate has an upper surface and a lower surface;
• (b) forming a first mask layer on the upper and lower surfaces of the silicon substrate;
• (c) coating a first photoresist on the first mask layer on the upper surface of the silicon substrate and patterning th photoresist to leave portions of the first photoresist defining the tip and the body;
• (d) etching the silicon substrate using the remaining first photoresist as a mask to remove portions of the first mask layer;
• (e) removing the remaining first photoresist;
• (f) etching the silicon substrate in a predetermined depth using the first mask layer remaining on the upper surface of the silicon substrate as a mask to form the tip;
• (g) removing the remaining first mask layer;
• (h) forming a second mask layer on an area of the silicon substrate except for an area to be formed with the body and the cantilever;
• (i) forming a boron-diffused layer by diffusing boron into the silicon substrate using the second mask layer as a mask so that the boron is diffused only into a portion of he silicon substrate to be formed with the cantilever and the body;
• (j) removing the second mask layer;
• (k) forming a third mask layer on the upper and lower surfaces of the silicon substrate;
• (l) coating a second photoresist on the third layer on the upper surface of the silicon substrate and patterning the photoresist to cover only portions of the second photoresist to be formed with the cantilever and the body;
• (m) etching the silicon substrate using the remaining second photoresist as a mask to remove portions of the third mask layer;
• (n) removing the remaining second photoresist and third mask layer on the lower surface of the substrate;
• and
• (o) performing an anisotropic etching of the silicon substrate using the third mask layer remaining on the upper surface of the silicon substrate as a mask so that the silicon substrate is etched in a vertical direction from the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate thereby forming the body and the cantilever.