摘要:

Recently, several researchers have reported fabrications of cantilever based on various GaAs related bulk and hetrostructure materials. But the details of fabrication processes and of mechanical properties have not yet been reported so far. In this work, we report fabrication and estimation of full GaAs cantilever for use of scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The process was accomplished only by photo‐lithography and two‐kind wet chemical etching. As a result, almost one third of the samples had a perfect appearance as designed. For those samples, we made resonance frequency measurement by using laser vibrometer and found a good agreement with the calculation. We also tried atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations by using this cantilever and obtained horizontal resolutions equal images to those by commercial Si cantilever. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639711

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The resolution of a magnetic force microscope with metal‐capped nanotube probes has been investigated from the theoretical and experimental points of view. The width of the line image of the magnetic information was measured as a function of the tip‐sample separation using a nanotube probe with a particle of Fe3C with a diameter of 50 nm. The theoretical calculation, which well explains this experimental result, indicates that the metal‐capped nanotube probes have a high potential for the high resolution imaging of the magnetic information. The resolution less than 10 nm is obtained when the nanotube tip with a diameter of ∼ 10 nm is scanned with the tip‐sample separation of ∼ 10 nm. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639712

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

We present the development of a probe for scanning probe microscopy and recording, called the CantiClever. This probe is designed to address the issue of the less than ideal tip geometry of conventional MFM tips and to allow the integration of other sensors other than an MFM tip with relative ease. Simulations of the influence of the tip‐end shape on the tip’s transfer function indicate that an ellipsoidal shape results in the highest possible resolution because of the absence of zero‐signal frequencies in the tip’s spatial frequency response. Furthermore, the magnetic domain structure of the tip was investigated with the use of MFM. It was determined that the tip, once magnetized, consists of one single magnetic domain. To exploit the capability for sensor integration, a magneto resistive element was integrated on the probe. This type of probe can be used in scanning probe microscopy and recording. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639713

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

We present a fully remote controllable AFM, featuring a motorized four‐axis sample stage. The low cost robotics allows a fast and accurate change of pre‐defined positions. Due to the software interface the instrument can be programmed to perform sequences of measurements. This allows the automated acquisition of large scale high resolution images. The instrument can be controlled and monitored from various locations using a standard network interface. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639714

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The nanosize metal‐coated silicon oxide aperture on the cantilever array has been successfully fabricated as a nearfield optical probe. The various semiconductor processes such as the anisotropic etching of the Si substrate, stress‐dependent oxidation, and isotropic HF oxide etching were carried out. The 5 micron size dot array patterning followed by fabrication of the pyramidal V‐groove and thermal oxidation at 1000°C was performed. The oxide layer on the Si (111) plane in the pyramidal V‐groove has been utilized as an etch mask for water‐diluted HF etching for nano‐size aperture fabrication. The thin metal deposition, such as Au and Al thin film, was tried independently on the nano‐size oxide aperture. The cantilever arrays with metal‐coated nano‐size apertures were successfully fabricated. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639715

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

A novel technique for scanning near‐field optical microscopy (SNOM) capable of point‐contact current‐sensing have been developed for investigation of nanometer‐scale optical and electrical properties of condensed matters. An apertureless bent‐metal probe was fabricated in order to detect optical and current signals at a local point on the sample surface. The near‐field optical properties could be observed using the local field enhancement effect generated at the edge of the metal probe under p‐polarized laser illumination. With regard to electrical properties, current signal could be detected with the metal probe connected to a high‐sensitive current amplifier. Nanometer‐scale optical and electronic properties of electrochromic (EC) films were investigated using the current‐sensing SNOM. Furthermore, nanometer‐scale EC modification of individual grains bleaching could be successfully performed. The current‐sensing SNOM has potential use in various fields of nanometer‐scale optoelectronics. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639716

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

We introduce a new method to perform sequential measurements of the in‐plane and out‐of‐plane magnetic force gradient components using the same topographic scan lines to preserve geometrical position registry at the nanometer scale. This method applies both flexural and torsional resonant oscillations of the same atomic force microscope cantilever probe for the determination of respective vertical and lateral force gradient components in a sequence of scans. Using magnetic domains in a hard drive with known stray field, as simulated by finite element analysis, we have demonstrated that the two oscillation modes provide complementary information about the orientation of the magnetic momentum of the probe tips. The matching of both vertical and lateral force gradient data with that of the finite element simulation occurs only at a unique orientation of tip magnetization. Furthermore, it was found that force gradient measurements using torsion mode are able to determine in‐plane anisotropy. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639717

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The instrumentation of high‐speed imaging has been a challenge for scanning probe‐based technologies. Mechanical stability of the system, surface tracking at sharp topographic transitions and prolonging tip lifetime have been the determining factors for practical applications. In this paper we report a new type of feedback control based on the torsional resonance amplitude (TRmode™) of cantilever probes. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) dynamics are improved over TappingMode™ due to the much faster response of the TR amplitude signal when the tip is interacting with a surface. For a given cantilever, the amplitude error generation rate due to the topographic variation of surfaces is substantially higher in torsional resonance mode compared to that while tapping, leading to improvement in feedback loop response. We have demonstrated that the improved dynamics of the new TR imaging mode achieve much better surface tracking during high speed scanning across sharp steps. When torsional resonance amplitude is used in a nested feedback loop applying micro‐actuated ZnO levers, the tracking error at 200 nanometer step edges can be controlled within 3 nm for a scanning speed around one millimeter per second. The tip/surface interaction of TRmode and TappingMode were studied in controlled experiments. In addition, we found that tip wear under torsional amplitude feedback control is comparable to that in low force TappingMode operation. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639718

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

A gel can be used as an environment for STM measurements with excellent stability. Our gelator molecule is stearic acid and the confined solvent can be one of the solvents that are commonly used in STM imaging at liquid‐solid interfaces. In addition to the gelator molecules themselves, also other molecules included in the gel can self‐assemble at the gel‐solid interface. In this case there is a competition between the gelator molecules and the additive for a position at the interface. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639719

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

We have been developing new analytical techniques using resistive type thermal probes, as employed in scanning thermal microscopy (SThM), to implement different measurement mechanisms. The same active sensor is used to probe chemical, morphological and physical properties of the surface of materials with high spatial resolution. As well as providing passive (temperature) and active (thermal properties) mapping of the surface of a sample, the probe is used to perform localised thermo‐mechanical measurement similar to that achieved by bulk techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo‐mechanical analysis (TMA). Photothermal infrared micro‐spectroscopy and spatially resolved pyrolysis mass spectrometry are also implemented by interfacing a scanning probe microscope to a FTIR spectrometer and a mass spectrometer respectively. An approach to multiple analysis, based on proximal probe methodology and using the same sensor to obtain different information from precisely the same area is thus established. Effective data correlation and identifications of species is hence possible with high spatial resolution. The techniques, their implementation and continuous development are described and typical results obtained from measurements on polymeric materials are presented. © 2003 American Institute of Physics

ISSN:0094-243X    

DOI:10.1063/1.1639720

出版商:AIP    

年代:1903

数据来源: AIP