Fabrication of Narrow-gapped Dual Si AFM Tips by Mechanically Polishing-back for Selective Trench Sidewalls Protection

DOI Web Site Web Site 9 References
  • Kawashima Kenta
    Graduate school of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University
  • Makino Eiji
    Graduate school of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University
  • Mineta Takashi
    Graduate school of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University

Search this article

Description

We developed a fabrication process of narrow-gapped twin nano-tips for atomic force microscopy (AFM) dual probes. A tetrahedral dual tip consisting of an inclined crystalline Si (111) plane and two dry-etched vertical planes was fabricated using deep reactive ion etching (D-RIE) to form a (110)-oriented narrow trench, thermal oxidation and additively refilling the trench with resin to protect the sidewalls, mechanically polishing-back the top resin and SiO2 layers to expose the Si (100) surface, and anisotropically etching the crystalline Si to form the (111) plane. The mechanically polished SiO2 thin film and resin layer were used to protect the trench sidewalls thereby preventing the gap between the Si tips from widening because of oxidation. A dual tip with a 450 nm gap was obtained by using the fabrication process. In addition to protecting the Si sidewalls with a SiO2 thin film, the resin refilling prevented abrasive particles from penetrating into the trench.

Journal

References(9)*help

See more

Related Projects

See more

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top