Title :
Active CMOS-MEMS conductive probes and arrays for tunneling-based atomic-level surface imaging
Author :
Zhang, Y. ; Wang, J. ; Santhanam, S. ; Fedder, G.K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Abstract :
This paper reports on development of AFM-like active CMOS-MEMS conductive probes and arrays. The active probes are aimed for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging and field-emission (FE) assisted nanostructure formation. Two kinds of STM tip approaches compatible with CMOS-MEMS process - Electron-Induced Beam Deposition (EBID) and Spindt tip method - are presented, and their functionality is examined. Atomic-level resolution is achieved using tips in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) STM. The MEMS probe working in ambient STM is also demonstrated. The active probe is equipped with a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) for tip FE current measurement around a nominal value of 1 nA.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; atomic force microscopy; micromechanical devices; operational amplifiers; probes; scanning tunnelling microscopy; AFM-like active CMOS-MEMS conductive probes; FE assisted nanostructure formation; FE current measurement; STM imaging; Spindt tip method; TIA; UHV STM; atomic-level resolution; electron-induced beam deposition method; field-emission assisted nanostructure formation; scanning tunneling microscopy imaging; transimpedance amplifier; tunneling-based atomic-level surface imaging; ultrahigh vacuum STM; Atomic force microscopy; CMOS integrated circuits; Force; Micromechanical devices; Probes; Silicon; CMOS MEMS; SPM; probe array; thermal actuation;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (TRANSDUCERS), 2011 16th International
Conference_Location :
Beijing
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-0157-3
DOI :
10.1109/TRANSDUCERS.2011.5969662
