A microwave probe nanostructure for atomic force microscopy

An atomic force microscope (AFM) probe on a GaAs wafer was studied as a new microwave probe structure. A waveguide was created by evaporating an Au film on the top and bottom surfaces of the GaAs AFM probe. The fabricated AMF probe’s tip is 8 μm long and has a radius of curvature of about 50 nm. The open structure of the waveguide at the tip of the probe was generated by using focused ion beam (FIB) fabrication. AFM topography of a grating sample was created by using the fabricated microwave AFM probe. The fabricated probe exhibits nanometer-scale resolution, and microwave emission was successfully detected at the tip of the probe by approaching Cr–V steel and Au wire samples.     

Fabrication of AFM probe with CuO nanowire formed by stress-induced method

A novel method has been proposed to fabricate an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe using CuO nanowire and a stress-induced method that can form the nanowire easily. By heating a commercial AFM probe with a film coating of Ta and Cu, a Cu hillock with CuO nanowires on its surface could be formed at the end of the probe. The thickness of the coating films, the heating temperature, and the heating time were investigated to obtain CuO nanowires with a high aspect ratio for use as an AFM probe tip. It was found that a suitable probe tip can be fabricated using the a Cu film thickness of 700 nm, a heating temperature of 380 °C and a heating time of 6 h. Probe tips (~5 μm high) and nanowires of ~25 nm diameter were obtained successfully. In the range evaluated, the measurement resolution of the CuO nanowire probe was slightly worse than that of a commercial AFM probe. However, both probes had almost the same dimensional measurement precision.     

基于AFM探针的电晕放电研究

针对扫描探针显微镜与质谱联用系统中的采样方式,提出了利用原子力显微镜(AFM)探针进行电晕放电解吸附的采样方案.运用ANSYS软件对AFM导电探针进行了有限元仿真,电场分析表明间距100 μm加1 kV高压时的AFM探针周围场强在0.32 ～62.4 V/μm间,验证了利用其产生电晕放电的可行性;通过实验观察了电晕放电...     

Cantilever probes for high speed AFM

Since the invention in 1986 atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become the most widely used scanning probe microscopy (Binnig et al. in Phys Rev Lett 56:930–933, 1986). The microscope images the interaction of forces like Van der Waals or Coulomb forces between a sample and the apex of a small tip integrated near the free end of a flexible cantilever. But as all other scanning probe techniques the AFM requires serial data acquisition and suffers therefore from a low temporal resolution. Enhancing the speed to video rate imaging makes high demands on scanner technology, control electronics and on the key feature the cantilever with integrated sharp stylus. For the cantilever probes, fundamental resonance frequencies in the MHz regime are envisaged while the force constant of a few nN/nm shall be maintained. We present different novel AFM probes with ultrashort cantilevers and integrated sharp tips for high speed AFM while focusing on widely dispersed applications and on aspects of mass fabrication.     

Molecular dynamics prediction of nanofluidic contact angle offset by an AFM

This paper investigates the nano-fluidic contact angle measurement by performing molecular dynamics simulations. The contact angle between a nano-water droplet and a platinum surface is important for the design of the porous catalyst layer in low-temperature fuel cells. The measurement can generally be conducted by an atomic force microscope (AFM). However, the interaction force between the water droplet and the probe tip of the microscope may influence the measurement results. This paper employs the molecular dynamics technique to investigate the offset of the contact angle measurement. Calculations are in two sets, one simulated the water molecules clustering on the platinum surface, and the other involved the AFM measurement of the contact angle. The former case presents the original contact angle between the nano-scale water droplet and the platinum surface; the offset of the contact angle measurement due to intrusion of the AFM probe is predictable from the latter case. For engineering purposes, we present a correlation between the offset angle and the AFM measurement locations.     

Application of the differential transformation method to bifurcation and chaotic analysis of an AFM probe tip

The AFM (atomic force microscope) has become a popular and useful instrument for measuring intermolecular forces with atomic resolution, that can be applied in electronics, biological analysis, and studying materials, semiconductors etc. This paper conducts a systematic investigation into the bifurcation and chaotic behavior of the probe tip of an AFM using the differential transformation (DT) method. The validity of the analytical method is confirmed by comparing the DT solutions for the displacement and velocity of the probe tip at various values of the vibrational amplitude with those obtained using the Runge–Kutta (RK) method. The behavior of the probe tip is then characterized utilizing bifurcation diagrams, phase portraits, power spectra, Poincaré maps, and maximum Lyapunov exponent plots. The results indicate that the probe tip behavior is significantly dependent on the magnitude of the vibrational amplitude. Specifically, the tip motion changes first from subharmonic to chaotic motion, then from chaotic to multi-periodic motion, and finally from multi-periodic motion to subharmonic motion with windows of chaotic behavior as the non-dimensional vibrational amplitude is increased from 1.0 to 5.0.     

Adaptive trajectory control of microcantilever's tip utilised in atomic force microscopy-based manipulation

This article presents a hybrid distributed-parameters model and an adaptive control framework for microcantilevers utilised in atomic force microscope systems for controlled force manipulations. The model assumes a general nonlinear interaction force between the microcantilever's tip and the surface of the sample. This interaction force includes the sample's surface and probe's tip distance as well as the first and second derivatives of this force implicitly. Despite such detailed modelling of interaction force, there are a number of uncertainties including tip mass, damping coefficients and nature of the interaction force that would affect the response of the system and hence, an adaptive controller is needed to compensate for these unmodelled dynamics and uncertainties. Unlike the current practices that deal with the lumped-parameters model of the cantilever, a comprehensive distributed-parameters model based on the Euler–Bernoulli theory is considered here. An adaptive controller is then designed such that by giving a force input to the base of the microcantilever, the tip of the microcantilever can track a desired trajectory despite the flexibility of the microcantilever and aforementioned uncertainties. Extensive simulation results are provided to illustrate that the microcantilever's tip can asymptotically follow a harmonic trajectory even for a system with higher modes of vibration when it is designed based on single-mode model.     

Properties of M-AFM probe affected by nanostructural metal coatings

In order to develop a new structure microwave probe, the fabrication of the atomic force microscope (AFM) probe on a GaAs wafer was studied and characteristics of the AFM probe with different nanostructural metal coating were evaluated in order to understand the performance of the probe for the topography of materials and the propagation of microwave signals. A waveguide was introduced by the sputtering and the electron beam (EB) evaporation technique on the top and bottom surfaces of the GaAs AFM probe with Au or Al film. The open structure of the waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by using focused ion beam fabrication. It was found that the fabricated probes coated with the Au or Al film have nanometer order resolution. Moreover, using the Au-coating probe formed by the EB evaporation technique, microwave emission was detected successfully at the tip of the probe by approaching an Au film sample.     

Fabrication of improved piezoresistive silicon cantilever probes for the atomic force microscope

This paper describes an improved design for a monolithic silicon atomic force microscope (AFM) probe using piezoresistive sensing. The probe is V shaped, with a sharp tip at the free end and two piezoresistors at the root, and is fabricated using silicon-on-insulator (SOI) starting material. The maximum sensitivity of the AFM probe is measured to be 4.0(± 0.1) × 10⁻⁷ Å⁻¹, which is larger than that of the previous parallel-arm piezoresistive AFM probe. The measured results are in reasonable agreement with the values predicted by theory. The minimum detectable force and minimum detectable deflection of the AFM probes are predicted to be 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ N and 0.29 Å_r.m.s., respectively, using a Wheatstone bridge arrangement biased at a voltage of ± 5 V and bandwidth of 10 Hz–1 kHz.     

ROBUST TWO‐DEGREE‐OF‐FREEDOM CONTROL OF AN ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE

The performance of an atomic force microscope (AFM) is improved substantially by utilizing modern model‐based control methods in comparison to a standard proportional‐integral (PI) controlled AFM system. We present the design and implementation of a two‐degree‐of‐freedom (2DOF)‐controller to accomplish topography measurements at high scan‐rates with reduced measurement error. An H_∞‐controller operates the AFM system in a closed loop while a model‐based feedforward controller tracks the scanner to the last recorded scan‐line. Experimental results compare the actual performance of the standard PI‐controlled AFM and the 2DOF controlled system. The new controller reduces the control error considerably and enables imaging at higher speeds and at weaker tip‐sample interaction forces.     

A methodology for quantitative evaluation of local electrical conductivity: from micron to submicron

The local electrical conductivity of aluminum thin film with dimensions from micron to submicron was quantitatively measured by a four-point atomic force microscope (AFM) technique. The technique is a combination of the principles of four-point probe method and standard AFM. A silicon nitride based AFM probe with a V-shaped two-dimensional sliced structure tip was patterned by using conventional photolithography method. The probe was then etched to four parallel electrodes isolated from each other, for the purpose of performing current input and electrical potential drop measurement. The spacing between electrodes is smaller than 1.0 μm, which facilitates the quantitative electrical conductivity measurement of ultrathin film. The four-point AFM probe technique is capable of measuring surface topography together with local conductivity simultaneously. The technique was applied to a series of 99.999% aluminum thin films with thicknesses from micron to submicron. The repeatable measurements demonstrate the capability of this technique and its possible extension to be used for fast in situ electrical properties characterization of submicron interconnects that widely applied in nanosensors and nanodevices.     

Micromachining of diamond film for MEMS applications

We realized two diamond microdevices: a movable diamond microgripper and a diamond probe for an atomic force microscope (AFM), consisting of a V-shaped diamond cantilever and a pyramidal diamond tip, using a microfabrication technique employing semiconductive chemical-vapor-deposited diamond thin film. The microgripper was fabricated by patterning the diamond thin film onto a sacrificial SiO ₂ layer by selective deposition and releasing the movable parts by sacrificial layer etching. The diamond AFM probe was fabricated by combining selective deposition for patterning a diamond cantilever with a mold technique on an Si substrate for producing a pyramidal diamond tip. The cantilever was then released by removing the substrate. We report the initial results obtained in AFM measurements taken using the fabricated diamond probe. These results indicate that this diamond probe is capable of measuring AFM images. In addition, we have developed the anodic bonding of diamond thin film to glass using Al or Ti film as an intermediate layer for assembly. This bonding technique will allow diamond microstructures to be used in many novel applications for microelectromechanical systems     

Bifurcation and chaos analysis of atomic force microscope system

Atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscope, which is an essential characterization and actuation tool in modern nanoscience or engineering. This paper investigates the bifurcation and chaos behavior of the probe tip from AFM system by the differential transformation method (DTM). The dynamic behavior of the probe tip is characterized by reference to bifurcation diagrams, phase portraits, power spectra, Poincaré maps and maximum Lyapunov exponent plots produced using the time-series data obtained from DTM. The results indicate that the probe tip behavior is significantly dependent on the magnitude of the vibrational amplitude. Specifically, the probe tip motion changes from T-periodic to 3T-periodic, then from 2T-periodic to multi-periodic, and finally to chaotic motion with windows of periodic motion as the vibrational amplitude is increased from 0 to 2.0. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the DTM is in good agreement for the considered system.     

Molecular modeling of enzyme attachment on AFM probes

The immobilization of enzymes on atomic force microscope tip (AFM tip) surface is a crucial step in the development of nanobiosensors to be used in detection process. In this work, an atomistic modeling of the attachment of the acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC enzyme) on a functionalized AFM tip surface is proposed. Using electrostatic considerations, suitable enzyme–surface orientations with the active sites of the ACC enzyme available for interactions with bulk molecules were found. A 50 ns molecular dynamics trajectory in aqueous solution was obtained and surface contact area, hydrogen bonding and protein stability were analyzed. The enzyme–surface model proposed here with minor adjustment can be applied to study antigen–antibody interactions as well as enzyme immobilization on silica for chromatography applications.     

Structure modification of M-AFM probe for the measurement of local conductivity

In order to realize the evaluation of electrical properties of materials in nanometer scale, a method to measure the local conductivity of materials was demonstrated. A microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) probe which can propagate and emit microwave signals was fabricated. An open structure of a waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by focused ion beam fabrication. The M-AFM combined a network analyzer and an AFM was used to measure a sample. The amplitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of the microwave signals were measured, thereby the electrical conductivities of metallic materials were determined. The conductivity obtained by this method is agreement well with that measured by a high-frequency conductometry.     

Nonlinear and hysteretic influence of piezoelectric actuators in AFMs on lateral dimension measurement

Piezoelectric actuators that are used in atomic force microscopes (AFM) have undesirable properties. The nonlinear and hysteretic characteristics of piezoelectric actuators introduce geometric deformations in the reconstructed AFM images. Due to these deformations, the quantitative interpretation of the absolute dimensions of surface features is difficult and often not accurate.A real-time measuring ‘Nano-metrological Atomic Force Microscope’ system equipped with an ultra-high resolution three-axis laser interferometer system is developed, in which the undesirable properties of piezoelectric actuators are compensated completely. Using this AFM and a one-dimensional (1D) grating reference standard with pitches of 240 nm, which is one of the widely used reference standards as nano-metrological lateral scales, the influences of nonlinear and hysteretic characteristics of piezoelectric actuators on image reconstruction and lateral dimension measurement are examined and compared quantitatively among three different measurement methods. The three measurement methods are: (1) the relative movement between probe tip and sample is controlled and measured directly by voltage signals applied on the XYZ scanner, the nonlinear and hysteretic characteristics of piezoelectric actuators are not compensated; (2) the relative movement between probe tip and sample is controlled by voltage signals applied on the XYZ scanner, but it is measured accurately by interferometers; (3) the relative movement between probe tip and sample in lateral directions are both controlled and measured accurately by interferometers. According to the comparison results, an accurate displacement control system is key to reduce the influences of undesirable properties of piezoelectric actuators and the developed AFM system with three-axis laser interferometer system is proved to eliminate the nonlinear and hysteretic characteristics of piezoelectric actuators completely.     

具有力觉与视觉反馈的交互式纳米操作系统

提出了交互式纳米操作的实现方法,搭建了一个具有力觉与视觉反馈的交互式纳米操作系统．操作者通过该系统不仅可以实时感受到作用在原子力显微镜（AFM）探针上的力,而且可以实时观察到纳米环境在AFM操作下的变化过程,使得对微观世界的纳米操作如同在宏观世界搬运物体一样直观、灵活．实验结果证实了本系统的高效性及先进性．     

Multiwalled carbon nanotube AFM probes for surface characterization of micro/nanostructures

A multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) probe was used as a scanning probe in an atomic force microscope (AFM) to obtain surface height maps of micro/nano structures. The surface height maps acquired by the MWNT probe are compared with those by a conventional silicon probe on the four samples: silicon ruler, polymer microchannels, silicon nanomembrane and nanocomposite metal particle (MP) tapes. The results of the silicon ruler, microchannels and membrane samples show that the surface height maps by the MWNT probe have a better resolution than those by a conventional silicon tip due to the sharper tip with the larger aspect ratio of the MWNT. A MWNT probe is especially useful to observe surface height maps of the structures that have larger aspect ratio.Financial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (contract no. ECS-0301056). The authors are grateful to Prof. Derek Hansford and Nick Ferrell of the Micro MD laboratory for providing the samples and fruitful discussions, and Imation Corporation for the samples provided. Work by C.V.N. was supported by a NASA contract to ELORET Corporation.     

Fabrication and characterization of cantilevers with integrated sharp tips and piezoelectric elements for actuation and detection for parallel AFM applications

We have developed a new process to fabricate arrays of cantilevers with integrated tips for atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging and a piezoelectric layer for vertical actuation and detection. A good homogeneity of the tip shape is obtained thanks to a self-sharpening effect. The cantilevers have been characterized mechanically and electrically.     

Simulation on chemical mechanical polishing using atomic force microscope

A micro-contact model for chemical–mechanical polishing (CMP) of silicon wafer is presented. The model is developed on the basis of the Greenwood-Williamson micro-contact mechanics. The atomic force microscope (AFM) is used as a polishing test apparatus to evaluate the removal rate by a single particle in a CMP slurry. Using this model and AFM, the simulation on polishing of SiO₂ is performed. The model is evaluated by comparing the simulated polishing rate and that experimentally determined by real CMP processes. The simulation result and experiment result are in good agreement. It suggests that the combination of the model and AFM polishing test can be used to estimate the removal rate of SiO2 CMP and may be used to study the effects of different materials, slurry and operating condition on CMP process.