Piezoelectric Microcantilever Array for Multiprobe Scanning Force Microscopy

Toshihiro ITOH  Ryutaro AZUMI  Tadatomo SUGA  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E80-C   No.2   pp.269-273
Publication Date: 1997/02/25
Online ISSN: 
DOI: 
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Issue on Micromachine Technology)
Category: Sensor
Keyword: 
multiprobe SFM,  parallel operation,  piezoelectric cantilever array,  piezoelectric actuation,  

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Summary: 
We have developed and operated a newly conceived multiprobe scanning force microscope (SFM) using microfabricated piezoelectric cantilevers. An array of piezoelectric microcantilevers with a piezoelectric ZnO layer on an SiO2 film makes it possible to build a multiprobe SFM system. Multiprobe SFMs are required for the application of SFM to the probe lithography and high density data storage. Each cantilever probe of multiprobe system should have a detector for sensing of its own deflection and an actuator for positioning of its tip. The piezoelectric cantilever can detect its own vibration amplitude by measuring the piezoelectric current, and it can also drive its tip by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric layer. Therefore, the piezoelectric cantilever is suitable for each cantilever of the array in the multiprobe SFM. We have verified the applicability of the piezoelectric cantilever to each lever of the array by characterizing the sensitivities of the deflection sensing and actuation. The ZnO piezoelectric cantilever with the length of 125 µm works as the z scanner with the sensitivity of 20 nm/V. We have also fabricated an experimental piezoelectric microcantilever array with ten cantilevers. We have constructed parallel operation SFM system with two cantilevers of the fabricated array and successfully obtained parallel images of 1 µm pitch grating in constant height mode.