Atomic force microscope probe and preparation method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses an atomic force microscope probe and a preparation method thereof, and the method comprises the steps: forming a gold film on the surface of a substrate; forming a metal adhesion film on the surface of the gold film; etching the metal adhesion film, the gold film and the substrate to form a diaphragm groove and an initial pointed cone structure; performing first ion beam irradiation on the initial pointed cone structure to form a pointed cone structure, wherein the tip of the pointed cone structure is provided with alloy; after the first ion beam irradiation, chemical vapor deposition is carried out, and divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers are formed at the tip of the pointed cone structure; the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers are subjected to second ion beam irradiation, so that the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers are gathered to form a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe, the ion beam adopted by the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, and the extension direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation. According to the invention, the preparation process can be simplified, the preparation difficulty is reduced, the mechanical stability of the probe is good, and the direction is controllable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of nano - manufacturing measurement technology, and particularly to an atomic force microscope probe and a preparation method thereof. Background Art

[0002] An atomic force microscope (AFM) probe is a core component for nano - scale characterization and manipulation, and the tip radius of curvature directly determines the imaging resolution. Conventional silicon probes can obtain a tip with a radius of curvature of about 10 nm through thermal oxidation sharpening method, but there are still limitations in high - resolution imaging (such as single - atomic - layer detection) or scanning of complex surface topographies (such as trenches with an aspect ratio > 10).

[0003] In recent years, one - dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires have been used to enhance the AFM probe tip due to their excellent mechanical strength and high aspect - ratio characteristics. For example, in the prior art, carbon nanotubes are fixed on the tip surface through wet chemical assembly, or carbon nanotubes are vertically grown on a silicon substrate by plasma - enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). In addition, Patent CN109765407A proposes a preparation method for a large - aspect - ratio probe based on one - dimensional nanomaterials. The AFM probe picks up the configured growth solution (aluminum trichloride hexahydrate dissolved in ethanol / injecting silicon tetrachloride + ferric chloride hexahydrate dissolved in ethanol solution), and a probe with a high aspect ratio is prepared on the tip by vapor deposition.

[0004] However, the preparation of probes in the prior art still has the following defects:

[0005] 1) Insufficient mechanical stability: The carbon nanotubes assembled by wet method are prone to falling off or breaking.

[0006] 2) High process complexity: PECVD requires precise control of the catalyst particle size (10 nm - 50 nm), and it is difficult to directly set it on the tip cone of the substrate.

[0007] 3) Difficult to control the probe direction: In the method of preparing nanowires on the tip by vapor deposition through the AFM probe picking up the configured growth solution, it is difficult to precisely control the angle between the growth direction and the substrate, which affects the consistency of the probe morphology. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The technical problem solved by the present invention is to provide an atomic force microscope probe and a preparation method thereof, so as to simplify the preparation process, reduce the preparation difficulty, and make the probe have good mechanical stability and controllable direction.

[0009] To solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention provides a method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe, including: forming a gold film on the surface of a substrate; forming a metal adhesion film on the surface of the gold film, and the sputtering rate of the metal adhesion film under gallium ion bombardment is lower than that of the gold film under gallium ion bombardment; etching the metal adhesion film, the gold film and the substrate to form a diaphragm groove and an initial cone structure, the diaphragm groove is located in the metal adhesion film, the gold film and the substrate, and the side wall surface of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least part of the side wall surface of the initial cone structure; performing a first ion beam irradiation on the initial cone structure to form a cone structure, the ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, the area of the tip of the cone structure is smaller than the area of the tip of the initial cone structure, and, the tip of the cone structure has an alloy, and the material of the alloy includes gold element, gallium element, and at least part of the metal elements included in the material of the metal adhesion film; performing chemical vapor deposition after the first ion beam irradiation to form divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers at the tip of the cone structure, and a gallium source and an arsenic source are provided in the chemical vapor deposition; performing a second ion beam irradiation on the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers to make the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers gather to form a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe, the ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, and the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation.

[0010] Optionally, the material of the metal adhesion film includes at least one of chromium, iron and titanium.

[0011] Optionally, the thickness range of the metal adhesion film is 5 nanometers to 10 nanometers.

[0012] Optionally, the substrate has opposite front and back surfaces, the gold film is located on the front surface, and, after forming the metal adhesion film and before etching the gold film and the substrate, the preparation method further includes: thinning the substrate from the back surface of the substrate to make the bottom of the diaphragm groove a diaphragm structure.

[0013] Optionally, the process of the first ion beam irradiation is a focused ion beam etching process, and the ion beam energy range used in the process of the first ion beam irradiation is 10 keV to 30 keV.

[0014] Optionally, the process of the second ion beam irradiation is a focused ion beam etching process, and the ion beam energy range used in the process of the second ion beam irradiation is 5 keV to 15 keV.

[0015] Optionally, in the chemical vapor deposition process, the growth environment of the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers is protected by atmospheric pressure hydrogen, and the process parameters of the chemical vapor deposition include: the ratio of gallium element to arsenic element ranges from 1:13 to 1:15; the growth temperature ranges from 400 °C to 500 °C; the growth duration is 4 minutes to 10 minutes.

[0016] Optionally, the thickness range of the gold film is 2 nanometers to 20 nanometers.

[0017] Optionally, the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

[0018] Optionally, the alloy is a spherical alloy.

[0019] Optionally, before forming the gold film on the surface of the substrate, it further includes: cleaning the surface of the substrate.

[0020] Correspondingly, the technical solution of the present invention further provides an atomic force microscope probe, which is prepared by the above preparation method. The atomic force microscope probe includes: a substrate; a gold film located on the surface of the substrate; a metal adhesion film located on the surface of the gold film, and the sputtering rate of the metal adhesion film under gallium ion bombardment is lower than that of the gold film under gallium ion bombardment; a diaphragm groove located in the substrate, the gold film and the metal adhesion film; a tip structure composed of at least part of the substrate and part of the gold film, and the side wall surface of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least part of the side wall surface of the tip structure; a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe located at the tip of the tip structure, and there is an alloy between the gallium arsenide nanowire probe and the tip of the tip structure. The material of the alloy contains gold element, gallium element, and at least part of the metal elements contained in the material of the metal adhesion film, and the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is set at an angle with the surface of the substrate.

[0021] Optionally, the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] In the atomic force microscope probe and its preparation method provided by the technical solution of the present invention, since a metal adhesion film with a lower sputtering rate under gallium ion bombardment is formed on the surface of the gold film, and after etching the metal adhesion film, the gold film and the substrate to form a diaphragm groove and an initial tip structure, the initial tip structure is irradiated with a first ion beam containing gallium ions in the ion beam. Therefore, on the one hand, by using the bombardment of the first ion beam irradiation, the initial tip structure is further sharpened to form a sharper tip structure. On the other hand, under the thermal effect, using the metal adhesion film material with a low sputtering rate under gallium ion bombardment, an alloy containing gold element and gallium element with reliable binding is formed at the tip of the tip structure. Thus, using the gold element in the alloy as a catalyst, it is very easy to form a gallium arsenide nanowire whisker with good mechanical stability and divergence at the tip of a very sharp tip structure based on the chemical vapor deposition process providing gallium source and arsenic source. Finally, by irradiating the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers with a second ion beam containing gallium ions in the ion beam, not only can the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers be gathered to form a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe, but also the extension direction of the single gallium arsenide nanowire probe changes with the irradiation angle of the second ion beam irradiation, that is, the extension direction of the single gallium arsenide nanowire probe is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation. It should be understood that due to the conventional deviation in the process preparation, the parallel here means approximately parallel within the tolerance range. Thereby, the preparation process is simplified, the preparation difficulty is reduced, and the mechanical stability of the probe is good and the direction is controllable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figures 1 to 8 It is a schematic structural diagram of each step of the preparation method of the atomic force microscope probe according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS:

[0026] 100 - Substrate; 101 - Front surface; 102 - Back surface; 110 - Gold film; 120 - Metal adhesion film; 130 - Initial tip structure; 131 - Tip structure; 1311 - Tip of the tip structure; 1312 - Alloy; 140 - Diaphragm groove; 141 - Diaphragm structure; 142 - Side wall surface of the diaphragm groove; 150 - Gallium arsenide nanowire whisker; 151 - Gallium arsenide nanowire probe. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0027] As described in the background art, the existing probe preparation still has problems of insufficient mechanical stability, high process complexity, and difficulty in controlling the probe direction.

[0028] To solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention provides an atomic force microscope probe and a preparation method thereof. By forming a metal adhesion film with a lower sputtering rate under gallium ion bombardment on the surface of the gold film, and after etching the substrate, the gold film and the metal adhesion film to form an initial tapered structure and a diaphragm groove, first ion beam irradiation, chemical vapor deposition, and second ion beam irradiation are sequentially performed, simplifying the preparation process of the atomic force microscope probe, reducing the preparation difficulty, and making the probe have good mechanical stability and controllable direction.

[0029] To make the above objects, features, and beneficial effects of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0030] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification, claims, and drawings of the present invention are used to distinguish similar objects and do not necessarily describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device comprising a series of steps or units does not necessarily have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices. In addition, directional terms such as above, below, up, down, upward, downward, left, right, etc. are used relative to the exemplary embodiments as shown in the figures, with the upward or upward direction towards the top of the corresponding figure and the downward or downward direction towards the bottom of the corresponding figure.

[0031] Figures 1 to 8 It is a schematic structural diagram of each step of the preparation method of the atomic force microscope probe according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Please refer to Figure 1 , and provide a substrate 100.

[0033] In this embodiment, the material of the substrate 100 is silicon.

[0034] In other embodiments, the material of the substrate 100 can also be silicon nitride.

[0035] The substrate 100 has opposite front surface 101 and back surface 102.

[0036] Please continue to refer to Figure 1 , and a gold film 110 is formed on the surface of the substrate 100.

[0037] By forming the gold film 110 on the surface of the substrate 100, materials are provided for the subsequent formation of the alloy 1312 containing gold elements.

[0038] Specifically, the gold film 110 is located on the front surface 101 of the substrate 100.

[0039] Furthermore, the thickness range of the gold film 110 is 2 nanometers to 20 nanometers. Preferably, the thickness of the gold film 110 is 5 nanometers.

[0040] Furthermore, a sputtering method can be used to coat the surface of the substrate 100 to form the gold film 110.

[0041] In this embodiment, before forming the gold film 110, the surface of the substrate 100 is cleaned. Thus, the risk of contamination is reduced.

[0042] Specifically, the process of cleaning the surface of the substrate 100 includes: bombarding the surface of the substrate 100 with oxygen plasma; then, soaking the substrate 100 in acetone, ethanol, and deionized water; afterwards, performing ultrasonic cleaning and / or megasonic cleaning; finally, performing drying and baking, and the baking temperature can be 110°C.

[0043] Please continue to refer to Figure 1 , and a metal adhesion film 120 is formed on the surface of the gold film 110. Among them, the sputtering rate of the metal adhesion film 120 under gallium ion bombardment is lower than the sputtering rate of the gold film 110 under gallium ion bombardment.

[0044] The sputtering rate of gold (the rate of leaving the substrate after ion bombardment) is very high. Correspondingly, the bonding force between the gold film 110 and the substrate 100 is very weak, and it will quickly leave the top of the substrate under ion beam bombardment without restraint. By forming a metal adhesion film 120 with a lower sputtering rate on the surface of the gold film 110, the gold film 110 can be protected and the bonding reliability between the gold film 110 and the substrate 100 can be enhanced during subsequent ion beam irradiation (especially the subsequent first ion beam irradiation). Thus, during the first ion beam irradiation, under the thermal effect, through the metal adhesion film 120, the gold element in the gold film 110 and the gallium ions in the ion beam jointly form the alloy 1312 that is stably located at the tip 1311 of the conical structure.

[0045] Specifically, the material of the metal adhesion film 120 includes at least one of chromium, iron, and titanium.

[0046] Specifically, the thickness range of the metal adhesion film 120 is 5 nanometers to 10 nanometers. Preferably, the thickness of the metal adhesion film 120 is 5 nanometers.

[0047] Specifically, methods such as sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion beam evaporation, or pulsed laser deposition can be used to coat the surface of the gold film 110 to form the metal adhesion film 120.

[0048] Please refer to Figure 2 , etch the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110, and the substrate 100 to form the diaphragm groove 140 and the initial tapered structure 130. Among them, the diaphragm groove 140 is located within the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110, and the substrate 100, and the side wall surface 142 of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least part of the side wall surface of the initial tapered structure 130.

[0049] As Figure 2 shown, the initial tapered structure 130 is composed of the remaining part of the metal adhesion film 120, part of the gold film 110, and part of the substrate 100 after etching the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110, and the substrate 100.

[0050] It should be noted that the etching method for forming the tapered structure and the diaphragm groove 140 can adopt the etching methods of the existing technology, which are not limited here. Only a schematic implementation method for forming the diaphragm groove 140 and the initial tapered structure 130 is provided below.

[0051] In one embodiment, the method for forming the diaphragm groove 140 and the initial tapered structure 130 includes: forming a first mask layer on the surface of the metal adhesion film 120, the first mask layer covering the surface of the metal adhesion film 120 corresponding to the tip of the initial tapered structure and exposing the surface of the metal adhesion film 120 around the surface corresponding to the tip, and the exposed area of the surface of the metal adhesion film 120 is the corresponding area of the diaphragm groove 140; using the first mask layer as a mask, etching the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110, and the substrate 100 by a dry etching process or a wet etching process to form a preliminary initial tapered structure 130. In this step, control the dry etching process or the wet etching process to make the etching proceed in a way with a worse topography, that is, make the side wall surface 142 of the diaphragm groove inclined; then, continue to etch the preliminary initial tapered structure 130 by a wet etching process to further increase the inclination degree of the side wall surface 142 of the diaphragm groove, and finally form the initial tapered structure 130.

[0052] In this embodiment, after forming the metal adhesion film 120 and before etching the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110, and the substrate 100, the substrate 100 is thinned from the back surface 102 of the substrate 100 so that the bottom of the diaphragm groove 140 can become the diaphragm structure 141.

[0053] In other embodiments, the substrate 100 can also be thinned in other processes.

[0054] Please refer to Figure 3 andFigure 4 , Figure 4 is Figure 3 an enlarged schematic view of region A in , where the initial tapered structure 130 is subjected to a first ion beam irradiation to form a tapered structure 131.

[0055] Among them, the ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions.

[0056] In addition, the tip 1311 of the tapered structure is farther from the back surface 102 of the substrate 100 than the bottom of the tapered structure 131.

[0057] Correspondingly, the area of the tip 1311 of the tapered structure is smaller than the area of the tip of the initial tapered structure 130, and the tip 1311 of the tapered structure has an alloy 1312, and the material of the alloy 1312 includes gold element, gallium element, and at least part of the metal elements included in the material of the metal adhesion film 120.

[0058] By subjecting the initial tapered structure 130 to a first ion beam irradiation with gallium ions in the ion beam, not only is the tip of the initial tapered structure further sharpened under the bombardment of the ion beam to form a sharper tapered structure 131, but also under the thermal effect, the material of the gold film 110, the gallium ions in the ion beam, and the material of the metal adhesion film 120 with a low sputtering rate under the bombardment of gallium ions can be used to form an alloy 1312 that stably locates at the tip 1311 of the tapered structure and contains the material elements of these three. Subsequently, the gold element in the alloy 1312 is used as a catalyst for growing gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150, and the gallium element in the alloy 1312 is used as a partial gallium source for growing gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 to improve the growth efficiency of the nanowire whiskers.

[0059] Furthermore, the alloy 1312 is a spherical alloy. Specifically, in the ion bombardment of the first ion beam irradiation, gallium, gold, and the material of the metal adhesion film 120 will form an alloy that stably locates at the top of the tapered structure 131 and spheroidizes, and the spherical catalyst is more conducive to the growth of nanowires.

[0060] Furthermore, the process of the first ion beam irradiation is a focused ion beam etching process (FIB).

[0061] Furthermore, the energy range of the ion beam used in the process of the first ion beam irradiation is 10 keV to 30 keV. With a higher ion energy, its action range will be more convergent, that is, the pattern resolution during processing will be higher and the size of the formed structure will be more accurate. Preferably, 30 keV is used as the ion beam energy for the process of the first ion beam irradiation to further improve the pattern resolution and the accuracy of the structure size during processing.

[0062] Please refer to Figure 5, after the first ion beam irradiation, chemical vapor deposition is carried out to form divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 at the tip 1311 of the tapered structure. A gallium source and an arsenic source are provided in this chemical vapor deposition.

[0063] Specifically, during this chemical vapor deposition process, the gold element in the alloy 1312 acts as a catalyst, and the gallium source further supplements gallium based on the gallium element in the alloy 1312, so as to form divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 at the tip 1311 of the tapered structure. Since the alloy 1312 is stably located at the tip 1311 of the tapered structure, the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 grown based on the alloy 1312 can be stably located at the tip 1311 of the tapered structure.

[0064] Furthermore, in the process of chemical vapor deposition, the growth environment of the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 is protected by ambient pressure hydrogen. And the process parameters of the chemical vapor deposition include: the ratio range of gallium element to arsenic element is 1:13 to 1:15; the growth temperature range is 400 °C to 500 °C; the growth duration is 4 minutes to 10 minutes.

[0065] Please refer to Figures 6 to 8 , the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 are subjected to a second ion beam irradiation to make the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 converge to form a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151.

[0066] Among them, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram when the second ion beam irradiation is carried out, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram when the second ion beam irradiation is completed, Figure 8 is Figure 7 an enlarged schematic diagram of area B in

[0067] In addition, the ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, and the extension direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation. It should be understood that in practical applications, the parallel here means approximately parallel within a certain deviation range.

[0068] In this embodiment, since a metal adhesion film 120 with a lower sputtering rate under gallium ion bombardment is formed on the surface of the gold film 110, and after etching the metal adhesion film 120, the gold film 110 and the substrate 100 to form the diaphragm groove 140 and the initial cone structure 130, the initial cone structure 130 is irradiated with a first ion beam containing gallium ions in the ion beam. Therefore, on the one hand, by the bombardment of the first ion beam irradiation, the initial cone structure 130 is further sharpened to form a sharper cone structure 131. On the other hand, under the thermal effect, using the material of the metal adhesion film 120 with a low sputtering rate under gallium ion bombardment, an alloy 1312 containing gold elements and gallium elements with reliable bonding to the tip 1311 of the cone structure is formed. Thus, using the gold element in the alloy 1312 as a catalyst, it is very easy to form a gallium arsenide nanowire whisker 150 with good mechanical stability and divergence at the tip 1311 of a very sharp cone structure based on a chemical vapor deposition process providing a gallium source and an arsenic source. Finally, by irradiating the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 with a second ion beam containing gallium ions in the ion beam (the ion beam containing gallium ions contains the same element as in the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150), not only can the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 be gathered to form a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151, but also the extension direction of the single gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 changes with the irradiation angle of the second ion beam irradiation, that is, the extension direction of the single gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation. It should be understood that due to the conventional deviation in the process preparation, the parallel here means approximately parallel within the tolerance range. Thereby, the preparation process is simplified, the preparation difficulty is reduced, and the mechanical stability of the probe is good and the direction is controllable.

[0069] Preferably, the gallium ion beam irradiates the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 vertically. Correspondingly, the extension direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 100.

[0070] Furthermore, the process of the second ion beam irradiation is a focused ion beam etching process.

[0071] Furthermore, the ion beam energy range used in the process of the second ion beam irradiation is 5 keV to 15 keV. If the ion beam energy of the second ion beam irradiation is too high, it is easy to directly damage the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150 until they disappear. If the energy is too low, the directivity of the ion beam will become poor, resulting in poor collimation. Therefore, using an ion beam energy range of 5 keV to 15 keV can take into account collimation while avoiding damage to the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150. Preferably, 10 keV is used as the ion beam energy for the process of the second ion beam irradiation to better take into account the collimation of the ion beam directivity and avoid damage to the gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers 150.

[0072] Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an atomic force microscope probe prepared by the above preparation method. Please continue to refer to Figure 7 and Figure 8 , the atomic force microscope probe includes: a substrate 100; a gold film 110 located on the surface of the substrate 100; a metal adhesion film 120 located on the surface of the gold film 110, and the sputtering rate of the metal adhesion film 120 under gallium ion bombardment is lower than that of the gold film 110 under gallium ion bombardment; a diaphragm groove 140 located within the substrate 100, the gold film 110, and the metal adhesion film 120; a tapered structure 131 composed of at least a part of the substrate 100 and a part of the gold film 110, and the side wall surface 142 of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least a part of the side wall surface of the tapered structure 131; a single gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151, the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is located at the apex 1311 of the tapered structure, and there is an alloy 1312 between the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 and the apex 1311 of the tapered structure. The material of the alloy 1312 includes gold element, gallium element, and at least part of the metal elements included in the material of the metal adhesion film 120, and the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is set at an angle with respect to the surface of the substrate 100.

[0073] Preferably, the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 100. That is to say, the extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe 151 and the surface of the substrate 100 form a 90° angle.

[0074] Since the technical features in this embodiment are formed according to the above preparation method, for the relevant descriptions of the technical features in this embodiment, please refer to the detailed explanations in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0075] The atomic force microscope probe of the embodiment of the present invention is prepared by the above preparation method, so the preparation process is of low difficulty, and the mechanical stability of the probe is good and the direction is controllable.

[0076] Although the present invention is disclosed as above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe, characterized in that: include: forming a gold film on the surface of the substrate; forming a metal adhesion film on the surface of the gold film, wherein the sputtering rate of the metal adhesion film under the bombardment of gallium ions is lower than the sputtering rate of the gold film under the bombardment of gallium ions; Etching the metal adhesive film, the gold film and the substrate to form a diaphragm groove and an initial pointed cone structure, wherein the diaphragm groove is located within the metal adhesive film, the gold film and the substrate, and a sidewall surface of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least a part of a sidewall surface of the initial pointed cone structure; Performing a first ion beam irradiation on the initial conical structure to form a conical structure, wherein the ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, the area of ​​the top of the conical structure is smaller than the area of ​​the top of the initial conical structure, and the top of the conical structure has an alloy, wherein the material of the alloy contains gold element, gallium element, and at least part of the metal element contained in the material of the metal adhesion film; After performing the first ion beam irradiation, chemical vapor deposition is performed to form divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers at the tip of the cone structure, wherein a gallium source and an arsenic source are provided in the chemical vapor deposition; The divergent GaAs nanowire whiskers are subjected to a second ion beam irradiation to gather the divergent GaAs nanowire whiskers into a single GaAs nanowire probe. The ion beam used in the first ion beam irradiation contains gallium ions, and the extension direction of the GaAs nanowire probe is parallel to the ion beam direction of the second ion beam irradiation.

2. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the metal adhesion film includes at least one of chromium, iron, and titanium.

3. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the metal adhesion film is in the range of 5 nanometers to 10 nanometers.

4. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The substrate has a relative front and back side, the gold film is located on the front side, and after forming the metal adhesion film and before etching the gold film and the substrate, the preparation method also includes: thinning the substrate from the back side of the substrate so that the bottom of the diaphragm groove becomes a diaphragm structure.

5. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first ion beam irradiation process is a focused ion beam etching process, and the ion beam energy range used in the first ion beam irradiation process is 10 keV to 30 keV.

6. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second ion beam irradiation process is a focused ion beam etching process, and the ion beam energy range used in the second ion beam irradiation process is 5 keV to 15 keV.

7. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the chemical vapor deposition process, the growth environment of the divergent gallium arsenide nanowire whiskers is a normal pressure hydrogen environment protection, and the process parameters of the chemical vapor deposition include: the ratio of gallium element to arsenic element is in the range of 1:13 to 1:15; the growth temperature is in the range of 400°C to 500°C; and the growth time is 4 minutes to 10 minutes.

8. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the gold film ranges from 2 nanometers to 20 nanometers.

9. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

10. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The alloy is a spherical alloy.

11. The method for preparing an atomic force microscope probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before forming the gold film on the surface of the substrate, the method further includes: cleaning the surface of the substrate.

12. An atomic force microscope probe, characterized in that: Prepared by the preparation method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, the atomic force microscope probe comprises: substrate; A gold film is located on the surface of the substrate; A metal adhesive film, located on the surface of the gold film, wherein the sputtering rate of the metal adhesive film under the bombardment of gallium ions is lower than the sputtering rate of the gold film under the bombardment of gallium ions; a diaphragm groove located within the substrate, the gold film, and the metal adhesive film; A pointed cone structure is composed of at least a part of the substrate and a part of the gold film, and the side wall surface of the diaphragm groove constitutes at least a part of the side wall surface of the pointed cone structure; A single gallium arsenide nanowire probe is located at the tip of the pointed cone structure. An alloy is present between the gallium arsenide nanowire probe and the tip of the pointed cone structure. The alloy material includes gold, gallium, and at least part of the metal elements contained in the material of the metal adhesion film. The extension direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is arranged at an angle to the surface of the substrate.

13. The atomic force microscope probe according to claim 12, characterized in that: The extending direction of the gallium arsenide nanowire probe is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

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