Micro cantilevers with integrated heaters and piezoelectric detectors for low power SPM data storage application

In this research, silicon cantilevers with integrated heaters and piezoelectric sensors have been studied for thermomechanical writing and piezoelectric readback on a polymer film, for low power SPM (Scanning Probe Microscopy) data storage system. Data bits of 100 nm in diameter have been recorded on a Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) film. The sensitivity of 0.22 fC/nm is obtained. Finally, the silicon cantilever with piezoelectric sensor was used to obtain charge readback signal using the grating with 30 nm depth, and the sensing ability of the piezoelectric cantilever was successfully demonstrated. The charge output based on the topography of the film was obtained, and the positive and negative peak of the charge corresponded to the slope of the grating.