EP2265925A2 - Device for positioning a moveable object of submicron scale - Google Patents
Device for positioning a moveable object of submicron scaleInfo
- Publication number
- EP2265925A2 EP2265925A2 EP09731053A EP09731053A EP2265925A2 EP 2265925 A2 EP2265925 A2 EP 2265925A2 EP 09731053 A EP09731053 A EP 09731053A EP 09731053 A EP09731053 A EP 09731053A EP 2265925 A2 EP2265925 A2 EP 2265925A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- microtip
- distance
- positioning
- tunnel current
- servo
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01P—MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT
- G01P15/00—Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration
- G01P15/02—Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration by making use of inertia forces using solid seismic masses
- G01P15/08—Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration by making use of inertia forces using solid seismic masses with conversion into electric or magnetic values
- G01P15/0894—Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration by making use of inertia forces using solid seismic masses with conversion into electric or magnetic values by non-contact electron transfer, i.e. electron tunneling
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q10/00—Scanning or positioning arrangements, i.e. arrangements for actively controlling the movement or position of the probe
- G01Q10/04—Fine scanning or positioning
- G01Q10/06—Circuits or algorithms therefor
- G01Q10/065—Feedback mechanisms, i.e. wherein the signal for driving the probe is modified by a signal coming from the probe itself
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
- G01Q60/00—Particular types of SPM [Scanning Probe Microscopy] or microscopes; Essential components thereof
- G01Q60/10—STM [Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy] or apparatus therefor, e.g. STM probes
- G01Q60/16—Probes, their manufacture, or their related instrumentation, e.g. holders
Definitions
- the present invention aims to fix with a precision of the order of one nanometer, or even one tenth of a nanometer, the posi ⁇ tion of an object submicron dimensions likely to move very quickly.
- a tunneling microscope comprises a microtip capable of being approached close enough to an object so that when a suitable potential difference is applied between the microtip and the object, the object being at a reference potential, a tunnel current is likely to flow between the microtip and the object.
- Voda, J. Chevrier, G. Besanozo, and F. Comin describes an atomic force microscope in which the microtip is arranged on a oscillating arm whose oscillations are enslaved.
- the object is mounted on a piezoelectric element and the oscillating arm of the microtip is controlled for example by capacitive effect.
- capacitive effect it is considered that the object is fixed but that its position can be adjusted by action on the piezoelectric element on which it rests.
- An advantage of scanning tunneling microscopy devices is that they make it possible to detect very small ⁇ varia tions of distance and hence position, below the nanometer.
- Another advantage of tunneling microscopy devices is that they can be carried out in extreme ways ⁇ miniaturized. Indeed, they only use a measurement of the tunnel effect current to measure the tip-object distance.
- a disadvantage of tunneling microstrip devices is that they have a limited bandwidth and do not allow objects to be scanned that can move rapidly.
- An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to use a tunneling microtip measurement system for the determination of position and thus possibly ⁇ lement for the servocontrol in position of an object submicrometric dimen ⁇ sions mobile and very low inertia. That the moving object by means very low inertia is likely to move over distances of the order of nano ⁇ meter to several tens of nanometers in periods NCI ⁇ EXTERIOR microsecond.
- the inventors propose to perform a double servo loop: a first conventional loop between the microtip and the object to regulate the micropoint-object distance as a function of the measured tunnel current, and
- a second loop also controlled by the measured tunnel current, for exerting a capacitive force between the object and a reference plane, this capacitive force acting in the opposite direction to the micropoint-object attraction force.
- an embodiment of the present invention provides a device for positioning a moving object capable of moving over a distance of the order of one nanometer in a time less than or equal to a microsecond comprising a microtip; first piezoelectric positioning, polarization, detection and servocontrol means for moving the microtip with respect to the object and bringing it at a distance from the object of the nanometer order, to circulate a tunnel current between the micro ⁇ tip and the object, for measuring the tunnel current and for controlling, as a function of the measured tunnel current, the distance between the microtip and the object at a constant value; and second positioning and servocontrol means capacitively coupled to the object to oppose a force of attraction between the object and the microtip as a function of said measured tunnel current, the second means being connected to a reference plane.
- the first means for positioning piezoelectric NENT compren- not only positioning means in the direc ⁇ from the tip to the object but also means for posi tioning ⁇ in a plane orthogonal to this direction.
- the entire object and the reference plane is mounted on a x-y table movable relative to the microtip.
- the object corresponds to an end zone of a microbeam.
- the device further comprises third means for adjusting the distance between the first means and the reference plane ⁇ and thus the distance between the object and the reference plane.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram partially in the form of blocks illustrating an example of application of a system according to the present invention
- Figure 2 is a block diagram of a servo circuit used in the context of the present invention.
- the moving object with very low inertia is the end of a mobile beam manufactured by MEMS technologies (technologies of realization of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Structures), using for example silicon etching techniques developed in the context of the realization of integrated circuits on silicon.
- MEMS technologies technologies of realization of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Structures
- silicon etching techniques developed in the context of the realization of integrated circuits on silicon.
- Beams of sufficiently small dimensions are considered so that their end can move a distance of the order of one nanometer, for example from 1 to 50 nm, in a very short time, for example less than one microsecond.
- a movable beam 1 is embedded in a support 2 connected to a base 3 defining a reference plane.
- the beam is made of a conductive material or is coated with a conductive material and can be connected to a reference potential, for example ground, through the carrier 2 in a manner not shown.
- On the reference plane 3 is disposed an electrode 4 capable of interacting capacitively with the beam 1.
- a microtip 6 mounted on a block 8. We call z the distance of a point considered from the beam to the reference plane and the distance from this point of the beam to the micro ⁇ tip.
- the beam or microbeam 1 has a length of the order of one hundred micrometers, for example 50 to 300 ⁇ m, or more, and at least one dimension in the orthogonal plane in the direction of its length. order of one tenth of a micrometer, or less, for example between 50 and 200 nm.
- Such micro-beam is likely to oscillate at fre ⁇ these few tens or hundreds of kilohertz, while the amount of displacement near its upper end is nanometer.
- Block 8 comprises means for positioning the microtip in the z direction, these positioning means being for example a piezoelectric crystal.
- Block 8 also comprises biasing means capable of connecting the microtip to a desired control potential Vd.
- At block 8 is connected to a servo system 10.
- the servo system ⁇ ment 10 receives information on the tunnel current i
- the control block 10 is able to provide, on the one hand, a bias voltage Vd to the microtip 6 on the other hand, a bias voltage Vz to the capacitive electrode 4.
- the servo block 10 receives on the other hand information on the distance d ff that is to be maintained between the microtip and the object , and on the distance z re f that one wishes to maintain between the object and the reference plane.
- the distance d re f will be in most applications kept constant. In some applications, it may be desired to vary this distance according to a specific law, for example to identify the transfer function of the moving object or any element of the servo system. In general, we can enslave the distance d re f anyway desired.
- the invention can be used to fix the position of the microbeam.
- the invention can also be used to realize an accelerometer for measuring an acceleration acting on the beam. This can be accomplished by measuring the servo signal to be applied to the capacitive actuator to maintain the beam stationary regardless of the applied acceleration.
- the same principle can be used to perform a small scale force measurement, and this could be considered as a new version of a near field microscope.
- microscopy type always in the case of a microbeam, we can determine the structure of the upper surface of the microbeam or a very small object placed on this upper surface. For this, we will provide a possibility of movement in the x and y directions (parallel to the reference plane) of the microtip. When it is moved in this plane, the distance d remains constant and the distance z is modified and provides an indication of the relief of the microbeam.
- the positioning means of the piezo electric ⁇ microbeam include not only positioning means in the direction from the tip to the object but also means for positioning in a plane orthogonal to this direction.
- the base on which the object is mounted is connected to a displacement table in x, y, z to move the object slowly relative to the microtip and choose an approximate starting position.
- the double servo-control loop described above makes it possible, as indicated, to avoid any bonding between the microtip and the object even though the object has a very low inertia and that its position is likely to vary very rapidly. as a result of external phenomena such as thermal noise.
- the attachment of the loop can be insuffuf ⁇ fast enough to avoid any initial bonding when one begins to approach the microtip of the object while the object is subject to oscillation or fast erratic movements.
- the system according to the invention will preferably be used by first approaching the microtip with a substantially fixed portion of the object and then moving the object relative to the microtip (or vice versa) so that the microtip come next to the part of the object that we want to analyze.
- This displacement if it must be relatively large amplitude, as in the case where the object is a beam and where it is desired to move the microtip of the embedding zone towards the end of the beam, can be provided by the displacement table in x, y mentioned above.
- FIG. 2 represents a block diagram of a possible embodiment of a servo block 10. This servo block 10:
- the setpoint value i-tref is subtracted from the measured tunnel current value.
- the result of the subtraction is provided to a first controller CTLR1 which calculates according to selected rules a voltage Vd to be supplied to the piezoelectric element 8 which carries the microtip 6.
- - is also supplied to a wholesaler ⁇ logarithm calculation operative part 22 that calculates the estimated value of the distance d. Indeed, it is known that in a tunnel effect system, the tunnel current is an exponential function of the distance between the objects between which this current flows.
- the voltage Vd applied by the controller CTLR1 to the piezoelectric element 8 is sent to a model 24 of this piezoelectric element.
- This model provides an estimate (z + d) of the distance between the microtip and the reference plane.
- the estimated values (z + d) and d are subtracted in a subtracter 25 from which it follows that an estimated value z of the distance z is obtained.
- a subtracter 27 subtracts this value z z ref value for the desired height z and the resulting error signal is supplied to a CTLR2 controller that provides the desired voltage Vz to the capacitor plate 4.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
FR0852007A FR2929404B1 (en) | 2008-03-28 | 2008-03-28 | DEVICE FOR POSITIONING A SUBMICRONIC MOBILE OBJECT |
PCT/FR2009/050519 WO2009125138A2 (en) | 2008-03-28 | 2009-03-25 | Device for positioning a moveable object of submicron scale |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2265925A2 true EP2265925A2 (en) | 2010-12-29 |
Family
ID=39816594
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP09731053A Withdrawn EP2265925A2 (en) | 2008-03-28 | 2009-03-25 | Device for positioning a moveable object of submicron scale |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20110055981A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP2265925A2 (en) |
FR (1) | FR2929404B1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2009125138A2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102015212669B4 (en) * | 2015-07-07 | 2018-05-03 | Infineon Technologies Ag | Capacitive microelectromechanical device and method of forming a capacitive microelectromechanical device |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5211051A (en) * | 1987-11-09 | 1993-05-18 | California Institute Of Technology | Methods and apparatus for improving sensor performance |
US5503018A (en) * | 1992-12-08 | 1996-04-02 | Alliedsignal Inc. | Tunnel current sensor with force relief protection |
US6181097B1 (en) * | 1999-02-11 | 2001-01-30 | Institute Of Materials Research And Engineering | High precision three-dimensional alignment system for lithography, fabrication and inspection |
-
2008
- 2008-03-28 FR FR0852007A patent/FR2929404B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2009
- 2009-03-25 EP EP09731053A patent/EP2265925A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2009-03-25 WO PCT/FR2009/050519 patent/WO2009125138A2/en active Application Filing
- 2009-03-25 US US12/935,063 patent/US20110055981A1/en not_active Abandoned
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See references of WO2009125138A3 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
FR2929404A1 (en) | 2009-10-02 |
WO2009125138A3 (en) | 2009-12-03 |
WO2009125138A2 (en) | 2009-10-15 |
US20110055981A1 (en) | 2011-03-03 |
FR2929404B1 (en) | 2010-05-28 |
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