Abstract
This paper presents a microcantilever having a microscale heater-thermometer fabricated from doped single crystal silicon that is mounted on a silicon nitride thermal isolation structure. The silicon nitride isolation structure is in turn connected to doped single crystal silicon legs. The cantilever fabrication, its characterization, and its application in thermal nanotopography measurements are presented in this work. The cantilever can reach temperatures over 600 °C with a heating power of 4mW. The cantilever has a thermal resistance that exceeds 105KW-1 when away from a substrate. Making a contact-mode scan over a silicon calibration grating of height 20nm, the cantilever has a topography reading sensitivity of 1.3 × 10-4nm-1, and a topography reading resolution of about 7pm Hz-1/2. These performance characteristics compare extremely well to published ones for other kinds of cantilevers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 055503 |
Journal | Nanotechnology |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Bioengineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- General Materials Science