Millions of cantilevers for atomic force microscopy

Abstract

Millions of single-crystal silicon cantilevers were fabricated by anisotropic etching of silicon by KOH. They could be tailored to measure from 500 nm to 100 μm in length and from 30 to 100 nm in thickness. Since the tips and the cantilevers were formed by a combination of crystal-line facets, they had very high uniformity, well-defined shape, and size. The density of the cantilevers was over 1 mil cantilevers per square centimeter. Typical mechanical characteristics of cantilevers measuring a few microns in length were spring constant a few N/m, natural frequency around 10 MHz, Q factor 5 in air, and ${10}^4$ in vacuum. The natural frequency of cantilevers within the same row differed by 0.01%. Displacement measurement of the cantilever from the back surface of the silicon substrate by an infrared Fizeau interferometer had a visibility of 0.1.