A double lamellae dropoff etching procedure for tungsten tips attached to tuning fork atomic force microscopy/scanning tunneling microscopy sensors

Abstract

We present an electrochemical etching scheme for producing sharp tungsten tips for use in scanning probe microscopes. The motivation behind the development of this particular method comes from the need to have an etched probe attached to a quartz tuning fork. Comparisons with existing etching methods are made. This rather simple scheme incorporates the key advantages of previously established techniques to give reproducible and controlled etching cycles.