Integration of sharp silicon nitride tips into high-speed SU8 cantilevers in a batch fabrication process
OPEN ACCESS
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2019-11-29
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
OPEN ACCESS
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Employing polymer cantilevers has shown to outperform using their silicon or silicon nitride analogues concerning the imaging speed of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in tapping mode (intermittent contact mode with amplitude modulation) by up to one order of magnitude. However, tips of the cantilever made out of a polymer material do not meet the requirements for tip sharpness and durability. Combining the high imaging bandwidth of polymer cantilevers with making sharp and wear-resistant tips is essential for a future adoption of polymer cantilevers in routine AFM use. In this work, we have developed a batch fabrication process to integrate silicon nitride tips with an average tip radius of 9 ± 2 nm into high-speed SU8 cantilevers. Key aspects of the process are the mechanical anchoring of a moulded silicon nitride tip and a two-step release process. The fabrication recipe can be adjusted to any photo-processable polymer cantilever.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
10
Pages / Article No.
2357 - 2363
Publisher
Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Atomic force microscopy (AFM); Durability; Imaging speed; Polymer cantilever; silicon nitride tip