A mass-production-ready anti-wear probe for scanning probe microscopy lithography

Abstract

In this paper, a mass-production-ready anti-wear probe that has a much higher drawing stability than a conventional probe with a needle-shape tip while keeping the same drawing ability of arbitrary patterns has been proposed. The probe tip with a uniform cuboid-shape consisted of a microscale mechanical contact (width of the cantilever), two nanoscale electrical contacts (thickness of tungsten film) formed on the sidewalls of the mechanical contact, and an eave formed at the end. The microscale mechanical contact reduced tip wear by dispersing the force, while the nanoscale electrical contact enabled the drawing of nanoscale patterns. The uniform shape of the probe tip enabled the probe to maintain its stable performance, even when it had been mechanically worn. The eave played an essential role for mass production during simultaneous metallization of probes; it prevented tungsten film from being deposited on the mechanical contact by creating a shadow during the sputtering process. The results of the local anodic oxidation (LAO) lithography showed that the proposed probe was able to draw arbitrary patterns while maintaining stable performance over a long drawing distance.