Preparation of cantilevered W tips for atomic force microscopy and apertureless near-field scanning optical microscopy

Tip characteristics play an important role in the resolution and sensitivity of scanning probe microscopy. Extensive efforts have been devoted to tip fabrication. Most of the research is focused on scanning tunneling microscopy applications, which require sharp and short tips. Long tips that can be...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2002-08, Vol.73 (8), p.2942-2947
Main Authors: Sun, W. X., Shen, Z. X., Cheong, F. C., Yu, G. Y., Lim, K. Y., Lin, J. Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Tip characteristics play an important role in the resolution and sensitivity of scanning probe microscopy. Extensive efforts have been devoted to tip fabrication. Most of the research is focused on scanning tunneling microscopy applications, which require sharp and short tips. Long tips that can be bent into cantilevered tips have great potential in atomic force microscopy/apertureless near-field scanning optical microscopy applications. However, the fabrication of such tips has been rarely reported. The present work is carried out with the aim of optimizing the conditions suitable for fabricating long and sharp tungsten tips. Besides topography, optical, and spectroscopic information, electrical and magnetic measurements can also be carried out with such tips obtained with the recipe reported in this article. The long tips also make it possible to measure deep grooves/trenches.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.1494867