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Probe device for a metrology instrument and method of fabricating the same

A probe and probe head technology, which can be used in measurement devices, instruments, scientific instruments, etc., can solve problems such as unsatisfactory probe head formation

Active Publication Date: 2010-08-11
BRUKER NANO INC
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  • Abstract
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Problems solved by technology

[0018] With these known techniques, tip shaping is also not ideal, manifesting itself as undesired variations in tip height and tip sharpness
Therefore, there is no conventional technique for producing short cantilevers with high throughput of sharp tips (e.g., tip radii less than 20 nm) and tip heights less than about 4 microns on wafer scale by parallel processing

Method used

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  • Probe device for a metrology instrument and method of fabricating the same
  • Probe device for a metrology instrument and method of fabricating the same
  • Probe device for a metrology instrument and method of fabricating the same

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Embodiment Construction

[0066]A preferred embodiment is directed to microfabrication techniques, wherein the probe arrangement is lithographically patterned and etched from a substrate such as a silicon wafer, ideally a bulk monocrystalline silicon wafer. As long as this method produces a probe with a high aspect ratio probe tip and a short cantilever and thus a large resonant frequency, the resulting probe device is particularly useful for high speed metrology applications, especially those using AFMs. According to the present invention, the yield of usable probe devices can be greatly increased with respect to known methods by maintaining the same substrate from which the probe devices can be produced (for example, the substrate can be lightly doped or undoped bulk Silicon) type-dependent flexibility, and provide a solution to align the probe head of the probe device with the fixed end of the cantilever from the front side of the wafer without moving the wafer, thereby enabling precise control of th...

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Abstract

A method of producing a probe device (12) for a metrology instrument such as an AFM (10) includes providing a substrate (50) having front and back surfaces and then forming an array (52) of tip height structures on the first surface of the substrate, the structures having varying depths corresponding to selectable tip heights. The back surface of the substrate is etched until a thickness of the substrate substantially corresponds to a selected tip height, preferably by monitoring this etch visually and / or monitoring the etch rate. The tips are patterned from the front side of the wafer (100) relative to fixed ends of the cantilevers (15), and then etched using an anisotropic etch. As a result, probe devices having sharp tips and short cantilevers exhibit fundamental resonant frequencies greater than 700 KHz or more.

Description

[0001] Statement of Government Interest [0002] This invention was made with United States Government support under Grant: NIST / ATP (Grant #70NANB4H3055). The United States has certain rights in this invention. technical field [0003] The present invention relates to probe devices for metrology instruments such as atomic force microscopes (AFMs), and more particularly, to methods of producing probe devices that allow for control over cantilever length, tip mass, and tip height Precise and repeatable control, thus enabling fast scanning AFM operations. Background technique [0004] Several probe-based metrology instruments monitor the interaction between a cantilever-based probe and a sample to obtain information about one or more properties of the sample. For example, scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), including atomic force microscopes (AFMs), typically characterize sample surfaces down to the atomic scale by monitoring the interaction between the sample and the tip on ...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(China)
IPC IPC(8): G01N13/16G01B5/28G01Q60/38
CPCG01Q60/38B82Y35/00
Inventor 樊文峻史蒂文·内格尔
Owner BRUKER NANO INC
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