Method of fabricating nano-scale structures on the edge and nano-scale structures fabricated on the edge using the method

US10782313B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Hangzhou Tanzhen Nanotech. Co., Ltd. · CN

Inventors

• Shuo Zheng · New York, US
• Babak Baradaran Shokouhi · Toronto, CA
• Mengmeng Deng · Sixian, CN
• Bo Cui · Shanghai, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 31, 2018
• Grant date: Sep 22, 2020
• Expiry date: Jun 18, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01Q70/06
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A fabrication method for the fabrication of special nano-scale structures, such as AFM probe tip(s) at the edge of a silicon and/or silicon nitride platform, called the cantilever. An array of these special AFM probes with the AFM tip structure located at the edge is fabricated from an array of regular AFM probes where the AFM tip structure may not originally have been located at the edge of the cantilever. A hard mask is formed on the probe's tip from a hard material, such as a metal mask, where more than one side of the tip could be uncovered. The non-covered side(s) of the probe tip structure(s) are subsequently etched to remove substrate materials, so that a sharp shaft (tip) is formed on the edge of the cantilever, when the process is done in a batch manner it results in an array of such AFM probe tips.