Fabrication of a free-standing Pt micro-ring on an electrode chip as a small magnetic source

Abstract

This paper describes a technique for fabricating a free-standing micro-ring on an electrode chip using a cutting and welding technique which utilizes Joule heating. A thin Pt wire with a diameter of about 650 nm was prepared on a Cu electrode chip, and mechanical deformation of the thin wire was induced by twisting it around an Ag core using a nano-manipulator. One end of the thin Pt wire was then welded by Joule heating onto another Pt wire that was located on the same electrode chip, but the Pt wire was electrically isolated from the thin Pt wire. The diameters of the micro-rings fabricated were 11 and 30 µm. The micro-ring supported by simple beams was then positioned above a permanent magnet, and the ring structure was deflected vertically by supplying a current to the ring. It was found from the experimental results that the deflection of the simply supported micro-ring was proportional to the amount of current that was supplied. The linear behavior of the deflection of the ring structure can be explained by the electromagnetic force between a micro-ring and a magnet which is proportional to the current supplied to the micro-ring.