Megahertz silicon atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever and high-speed readout in AFM-based recording

Abstract

Small atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever with a maximum resonant frequency of about 6.6 MHz was developed using a Si microprocess with silicon-on-insulator wafer. The cantilever was triangular in shape with a length of 7–20 μm and a thickness of <0.3 μm and had a tip on the lever. These structures were precisely fabricated by buffer step and prestep and using dual-side aligner. Furthermore, we developed a new optical lever deflection detection system for the small cantilever with a magnifying power of 0.2 μm/Å and a spot size of 2 μm. We demonstrate a high resonant frequency of the cantilever and a high speed readout at higher than 5 Mb/s using the prototype of rotation AFM recording system with a new detection system.