Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

A widely used tool in nano-scale characterization is the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), with popular applications in large semiconductor companies such as IBM, Intel, AMD and Seagate for the quality assurance of their chips and small electronics. It is also widely used in a variety of research fields and emerging technologies. The most important part of the AFM is the probe or tip which "feels" the sample surface and creates a three-dimensional image of the specimen surface. A major drawback in AFM usage is the lifetime of its disposable probe which is the main component in defining the resolution and quality of the images. Conventionally, these probes are made of silicon; but due to poor mechanical properties of silicon, some manufacturers have switched to other alternatives such as silicon nitride, carbon nanotubes, and diamond coated silicon probes. Although these probes have shown a longer lifetime than the regular silicon probes, they are significantly more expensive. In this project, we will develop a method to fabricate high aspect ratio diamond AFM probes at low cost. We plan to employ electron beam lithography to fabricate these probes from SOI wafers, with significantly reduced fabrication cost than high aspect ratio diamond tips made by focused ion beam milling. Our tip apex will also be considerably sharper than diamond tips made by coating a diamond film onto a silicon tip. We will increase the reproducibility to streamline the batch manufacturing process for this product.