JPH11201978A - Manufacture of probe part and cantilever - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a cantilever provided with a probe part which is sharpened sharply, by a method wherein the probe part which is formed on a semiconductor substrate and which is sharpened by an ion beam etching operation is oxidized and an oxide film is then removed. SOLUTION: A manufacturing process of a probe part 32 for a cantilever used for a scanning atomic force microscope or the like is constituted of an oxidation process of an oxide-film removal process and of the like. First, a conical part is formed on a silicon substrate 31, the part is sharpened by a converged beam composed of, e.g. gallium ions or the like, and a silicon oxide film 40 is generated around the substrate 31 inside an oxidizing furnace. An oxidation speed of silicon is fast in a flat part, and it is slow in a corner part. As a result, the oxidation speed at a tip 37b of a probe part 37 is slow as compared with that on its side face 37a. Then, the silicon oxide film 40 is removed by, e.g. hydrofluoric acid, and the probe part 37 which is sharpened further is formed. In addition, when the substrate 31 is worked by a prescribed manufacturing process by using the above method, it is possible to manufacture a cantilever which is provided with the probe part 37.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a fine probe used in a scanning atomic force microscope or the like and a method for manufacturing a cantilever having a fine probe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A scanning atomic force microscope scans the surface of an object to be measured by raster scanning and generates a spring (cantilever) generated by an atomic force such as van der Waals force generated between a probe and a sample surface. By controlling the distance between the tip of the probe of the cantilever and the surface of the DUT so as to maintain the deflection of the DUT at a predetermined value, and monitoring the position of the tip of the DUT, the surface of the DUT can be monitored. The shape is being measured.

For this reason, the scanning atomic force microscope can analyze the cross-sectional shape without destroying the object to be measured. Further, in the scanning atomic force microscope, since the object to be measured can be directly observed by the probe portion, for example, the depth of the hole or the like can be accurately measured. For this reason, it is suitable for, for example, shape analysis of minute concave portions such as between LSI wirings or contact holes.

The shape of the probe section is closely related to the observation accuracy of the concave portion of the object to be measured. Generally, the probe width W, which is the width of the base of the probe section, is small and the probe section has a small width. As the aspect ratio, which is the ratio (L / W) between the length L and the probe width W, increases,
It is said that the observation accuracy of the concave portion is improved. Conventionally, FIG.
As shown in the figure, cantilever 1 of the scanning atomic force microscope
1, a thin-film lever 1 extending from the support 13
For example, a cone-shaped probe portion 17 is formed at the tip of 5.

As shown in FIG. 34, the conical probe section 17 has a probe width W of about 1 μm and a length L of about 2 μm, and the aspect ratio of the probe section 17 is about 2. I have. Further, the probe width W2 at a position half the length L of the probe portion 17
Is about 0.5 μm, which is half of the probe width W.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional conical probe section 17, the aspect ratio is 2.
As shown in FIG. 35, the DUT 19
When observing the concave portion 19a, the side surface 17a of the probe
However, there has been a problem that the object 19 comes into contact with the measured object 19 and the accurate shape of the concave portion 19a cannot be observed.

For this reason, recently, as shown in FIG. 36, a technique for sharpening the conical probe portion 17 by FIB (Focused Ion Beam) processing has been developed. The shape of the probe portion 17 sharpened by this technique is such that the probe width W is 0.4 μm, the height H is 2 μm, and the aspect ratio is about 5. Also, the probe part 1
The probe width W2 at the half position of the length L is about 0.2 μm
Has been.

The sharpening of the probe part 17 by FIB processing is performed as follows.
As shown in FIG. 37, this is performed by irradiating a convergent beam 21 made of gallium ions or the like along the outer periphery of the probe portion 17 while moving in the circumferential direction R, and etching the side surface 17 a of the probe portion 17. . At this time, as shown in FIG.
Proximity width A which is the diameter of the circumferential trajectory at the tip of the convergent beam 21
Is set to 0.4 μm, sharpening is performed without shaving the tip of the probe portion 17, that is, while maintaining the length L of the probe portion 17 at 2 μm.

However, in the technique of sharpening the probe portion 17 by such FIB processing, when the proximity width A of the converging beam 21 is reduced in order to make the probe portion 17 even thinner, FIG. As shown in FIG. 40, the overlapping portion of the skirt 21a of the convergent beam 21 when performing the circumferential movement R becomes large, and therefore, as shown in FIG.
a is cut off at the foot of the convergent beam 21 and the probe 17
There is a problem that the length L becomes short.

When the probe 17 is sharpened by FIB processing, the side surface 17a of the probe 17 has a shape corresponding to the convergent beam 21, so that the shape of the probe 17 is It had a rounded tapered shape. For this reason, in the FIB processing, the probe width W2 can be reduced to only about half of the probe width W, as in the case of the conical probe portion 17, and the memory cell of a more miniaturized LSI can be used. There is a problem that a concave portion having a high aspect ratio such as a trench structure cannot be observed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and has as its object to provide a method for manufacturing a probe portion and a method for manufacturing a cantilever, which can be sharpened sharply as compared with the related art. And

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a probe section, wherein a probe section is formed on a semiconductor substrate, and the probe section is sharpened by ion beam etching. A oxidizing step of oxidizing the surface of the probe portion, and an oxide film removing step of removing an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe portion.

[0013] The method of manufacturing the probe portion according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In the method of manufacturing a probe section according to the above aspect, the step of forming the probe section includes an insulating film forming step of forming an insulating film on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; And a probe part etching step of forming the probe part by etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film left on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a cantilever, comprising: forming a probe on a semiconductor substrate; and forming a thin film lever on the surface of the semiconductor substrate with the probe on one end. Forming a support portion, forming a support portion that supports the lever portion by removing a part of the semiconductor substrate, and sharpening the probe portion by ion beam etching. A sharpening step, a step of oxidizing the surface of the probe section, and a step of removing an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe section.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a cantilever of the third aspect, the step of forming a probe portion includes the steps of: forming an insulating film on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; An insulating film removing step of selectively removing a part of the insulating film; and etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film remaining on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask to form the probe portion. And a probe part etching step.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a cantilever of the third aspect, the forming of the lever portion includes introducing impurity ions into a surface of the semiconductor substrate on which the probe portion is formed. And a lever part etching step of selectively removing a part of the surface of the semiconductor substrate into which the impurity ions have been introduced to form the lever part.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a cantilever of the fifth aspect, in the ion introducing step, boron is introduced into a surface of the semiconductor substrate by a thermal diffusion method. . According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to the third aspect, the supporting portion forming step selectively removes a part of an insulating film formed on a back surface of the semiconductor substrate. An opening forming step of forming an opening; and a substrate removing step of removing a predetermined region of the semiconductor substrate from the opening on the back surface.

(Function) In the method of manufacturing a probe portion according to claim 1, the probe portion formed in the probe portion forming step is oxidized after being sharpened by ion beam etching and formed on the surface of the probe portion. Since the oxide film to be removed is removed, the probe portion sharpened by ion beam etching is further sharpened.

In the method of manufacturing a probe portion according to the second aspect, the probe portion is formed by etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask. The probe portion before the ion beam etching is easily formed by using the semiconductor manufacturing process used. In the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to the third aspect, the probe portion is formed on one end side of the lever portion supported by the support portion by the probe portion forming step, the lever portion forming step, and the support portion forming step. The needle portion is oxidized after being sharpened by ion beam etching, and an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe portion is removed, whereby a cantilever having a sharply sharpened probe portion is formed. .

In the method for manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 4,
Using the insulating film formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask,
Since the probe portion is formed by etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the probe portion of the cantilever can be easily formed using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process. In the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 5, since a part of the surface of the semiconductor substrate into which the impurity ions are introduced is selectively removed to form a lever portion, a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process is used. In the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 6, wherein the lever portion of the cantilever is easily formed, the introduction of boron to the surface of the semiconductor substrate is performed by a thermal diffusion method in the ion introduction step. Boron is introduced into many semiconductor substrates at once.

Further, since boron is introduced into the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate is selectively etched while leaving the boron-introduced portion, whereby a thin-film lever portion can be easily formed. In the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 7, an opening having a predetermined shape is formed in an insulating film formed on a back surface of the semiconductor substrate, and the back surface of the semiconductor substrate exposed from the opening is etched, so that the support portion is formed. Since it is formed, the support portion of the cantilever can be easily formed by using a commonly used semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a manufacturing process in an embodiment (corresponding to claims 1 and 2) of a method for manufacturing a probe section of the present invention.
In this embodiment, a probe portion forming step, a sharpening step, an oxidation step, and an oxide film removing step are sequentially performed.

In the probe part forming step, an insulating film forming step, an insulating film removing step, and a probe part etching step are sequentially performed. That is, first, in the insulating film forming step in the probe part forming step, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a silicon oxide film 33 is formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 made of intrinsic silicon.

The formation of the silicon oxide film 33 is generally performed by
1 is oxidized in an oxidation furnace. Next, in the insulating film removing step in the probe part forming step, a photoresist 35 is applied on the silicon oxide film 33. A part of the applied photoresist 35 is selectively etched by a lithography technique to be in a state shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the silicon oxide film 33 that is not covered with the photoresist 35 is etched by, for example, a dry etching method to obtain a state shown in FIG. next,
A probe part etching step in the probe part forming step is performed. In this step, as shown in FIG.
Is used as a mask, for example, by a dry etching method,
The surface 31a of the substrate 31 is isotropically etched.

Then, the silicon oxide film 33 is removed, and FIG.
As shown in (2), the conical probe portion 37 before being sharpened is completed. The shape of the probe portion 37 formed in the probe portion etching step has a length L of 2 μm and a probe width W of 1 μm. Next, in the sharpening step, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the probe portion 37 is sharpened by using the FIB processing technique.

That is, along the side surface 37a of the probe portion 37, a convergent beam 39 made of, for example, gallium ions or the like.
Is moved circumferentially R with the proximity width A set to 0.4 μm.
Due to the FIB processing, the shape of the probe portion 37 is sharpened to a shape having a length L of 2 μm and a probe width W of 0.4 μm as shown in FIG. The probe width W2 at a position half the length L of the probe portion 37 is set to about 0.2 μm.

Next, in the oxidation step, as shown in FIG. 10, the substrate 31 is oxidized in an oxidation furnace, and a silicon oxide film 40 is formed around the substrate 31. Here, the oxidation rate of silicon is generally high in a flat portion and low in a corner portion.
In the tip 37b and the base 37c of the probe part 37, the side surface 3
The oxidation rate is lower than that of 7a.

Next, in the oxide film removing step, the substrate 31
For example, the silicon oxide film 40 formed on the substrate 31 by being immersed in a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution is removed. And FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a sharpened probe portion 37 is formed. The probe portion 37 formed according to the present embodiment has a length L of 2 μm and a probe width W of 0.4 μm, and the aspect ratio, which is a measure of sharpening, is the probe portion after sharpening by FIB processing. 37, the shape of the side surface 37a of the probe portion 37 is sharply reduced from the skirt portion to the side surface, so that the probe width W2 at half the length L of the probe portion 37 is 0. .1 μm, which is half the width of the probe portion 37 after sharpening by FIB processing.

In the method of manufacturing the probe portion configured as described above, the probe portion 37 formed by the probe portion forming step is
Since the silicon oxide film 40 formed on the probe portion 37 is removed after being sharpened by the IB process and then oxidized, the probe portion 37 sharpened by the FIB process can be further sharpened. In addition, the probe 31 is formed by isotropically etching the surface 31a of the substrate 31 using the silicon oxide film 33, which is an insulating film formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31, as a mask. The probe portion 37 before the FIB processing can be easily formed by using the semiconductor manufacturing process described above.

FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a cantilever according to the present invention (corresponding to claims 3 to 7).
3 shows a flowchart of a manufacturing process. In this embodiment, a probe part forming step, a lever part forming step, a support part forming step, a sharpening step, an oxidizing step, and an oxide film removing step are sequentially performed. Here, in the probe part forming step, the sharpening step, the oxidation step, and the oxide film removing step, the same processing as in the above-described method of manufacturing the probe part is performed.

In the lever part forming step, an ion introducing step and a lever part etching step are sequentially performed. In the support member forming step, an opening forming step and a substrate removing step are sequentially performed. That is, first, in the insulating film forming step in the probe part forming step, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the substrate 3 made of intrinsic silicon having a crystal plane (100) is formed.
1 is oxidized, and a silicon oxide film 33 is formed on the front surface 31 a and the back surface 31 b of the substrate 31.

Next, in the insulating film removing step in the probe part forming step, the surface 3 of the substrate 31 is removed by lithography.
A portion of the silicon oxide film 33 on the 1a side is selectively etched to be in a state shown in FIGS. Next, in the probe part etching step in the probe part forming step, FIG.
7, using the silicon oxide film 33 as a mask, for example, by a dry etching method,
Are isotropically etched.

Thereafter, the silicon oxide film 33 is removed, and as shown in FIG. 18, a conical probe portion 37 before being sharpened on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 is completed. Next, a lever portion forming step is performed. In the ion introduction step in the lever part forming step, as shown in FIG.
Boron 41 is introduced into 1a by, for example, a thermal diffusion method, and a p-type layer 31c is formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31.

Next, in a lever portion etching step in the lever portion forming step, a photoresist 35 is applied to the surface 31a of the substrate 31. Photoresist 35 applied
Is partially etched selectively by the lithography technique to obtain a state shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. Thereafter, the p-type layer 31c not covered with the photoresist 35 is formed.
Is etched by, for example, a dry etching method.

Then, the photoresist 35 on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 is removed, and the state shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 is obtained. Next, a support part forming step is performed. First, in the opening forming step in the support part forming step, the substrate 31
A photoresist 35 is applied to the surface 31a of the substrate.

At this time, the photoresist 35 is connected to the probe 37
Is applied to the thickness to be protected. Next, a photoresist 35 is applied on the silicon oxide film 33 on the back surface 31b of the substrate 31. A part of the photoresist 35 is selectively etched by a lithography technique.

As shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, the openings 4 extending in the lateral direction of the substrate 31 at intervals.
3 and a slit 45 arranged in the vertical direction between the openings 43. Thereafter, the silicon oxide film 33 on the back surface 31b of the substrate 31 not covered with the photoresist 35 is formed.
Is etched by, for example, a dry etching method, and an opening 43 is formed in the back surface 31b of the substrate 31, as shown in FIG.

Next, in the substrate removing step in the support part forming step, the substrate 31 is immersed in, for example, an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide. The aqueous potassium hydroxide solution etches silicon from the opening 43 and the slit 45 on the back surface 31 b of the substrate 31 toward the front surface 31 a of the substrate 31.

At this time, the etching of the substrate 31 in the lateral direction stops at the crystal plane (111). For this reason, as shown in FIG. 27, the opening 43 of the substrate 31 is etched into a shape inclined at a predetermined angle. Surface 31a of substrate 31
Is not dissolved in the aqueous potassium hydroxide solution, and thus remains without being etched.

As shown in FIG. 28, a hole 31d penetrating through the substrate 31 is formed in the substrate 31 at a position corresponding to the opening 43. Also, the back surface 31b of the substrate 31
A groove 31e is formed at a position corresponding to the slit 45. Thereafter, the photoresist 35 on the front surface 31a and the back surface 31b of the substrate 31 is removed.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, a support portion 47 sandwiched between the silicon oxide film 33 and the p-type layer 31c is formed on the substrate 31. Further, the probe 3 is provided at the tip by the p-type layer 31c protruding from the support 47.
7 is formed. Then, a plurality of cantilevers 51 having a conical probe portion 37 on the substrate 31 are formed in a state of being connected to the substrate 31,
The substrate removing step is completed.

Next, a sharpening step, an oxidizing step, and an oxide film removing step are sequentially performed in the same manner as in the above-described method of manufacturing the probe section. Then, as shown in FIG. 31, the plurality of cantilevers 51 having the sharpened probe portions 37 are attached to the substrate 31.
It is formed in a state of being connected to. Thereafter, each cantilever 51 is cleaved along the groove 31e, and the cantilever 51 is completed as shown in FIG.

In the method of manufacturing the cantilever configured as described above, the probe forming step, the lever forming step, and the support forming step form the probe on one end of the lever 49 supported by the support 47. The needle portion 37 was formed, and the probe portion 37 was sharpened by FIB processing and then oxidized to remove the silicon oxide film 40 formed on the surface of the probe portion 37. The cantilever 51 having the probe portion 37 can be formed.

Further, using the silicon oxide film 33 which is an insulating film formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 as a mask,
By etching the surface 31a of the
Is formed, the probe portion 37 of the cantilever 51 can be easily formed by using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process. Further, since the lever portion 49 is formed by selectively etching a part of the surface 31a of the substrate 31 into which boron as an impurity ion is introduced, the lever portion 49 can be easily formed by using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process. The lever portion 49 of the cantilever 51 can be formed.

Then, in the ion introduction step, the substrate 3
Since the introduction of boron 41 to the surface 31a of the first substrate 31 was performed by the thermal diffusion method, a large number of substrates 3 were simultaneously formed by batch processing.
Boron 41 can be introduced into 1. Also, the substrate 3
Since boron 41 was introduced to the surface 31a of the first
The substrate 31 can be selectively etched except for the region where the p-type layer 31c has been introduced and the p-type layer 31c can be formed, and the thin-film lever portion 49 can be easily formed.

Further, an opening 43 having a predetermined shape is formed in a silicon oxide film which is an insulating film formed on the back surface 31 b of the substrate 31, and the back surface 31 b of the substrate 31 exposed from the opening 43 is formed.
Since the support is formed by etching, the support 47 of the cantilever 51 can be easily formed using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process.

Since a plurality of cantilevers 51 having the sharpened probe portions 37 are formed on the substrate 31 by combining well-known semiconductor manufacturing techniques, a large number of cantilevers 51 can be formed at low manufacturing cost. . In the above-described method of manufacturing the probe section, the substrate 31 is oxidized in the insulating film forming step in the probe section forming step,
Although the example in which the silicon oxide film 33 is formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, a silicon nitride film is formed on the surface 31a of the substrate 31 by a CVD method. You may.

In the above-described method of manufacturing the probe section, the example in which the conical probe section 37 is formed by dry etching in the probe section etching step in the probe section forming step has been described. Is not limited to such an embodiment, and may be formed by, for example, wet etching. And in the above-mentioned cantilever manufacturing method,
Although the example in which boron 41 is introduced into the surface 31a of the substrate 31 by the thermal diffusion method has been described, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and may be introduced by, for example, an ion implantation method.

[0050]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the probe portion formed in the probe portion forming step is oxidized after being sharpened by ion beam etching and formed on the surface of the probe portion. Since the oxide film is removed, the probe portion sharpened by ion beam etching can be further sharpened.

In the method of manufacturing a probe portion according to the second aspect, the probe portion is formed by etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask. The probe portion before ion beam etching can be easily formed by using the semiconductor manufacturing process described above. According to the method of manufacturing a cantilever of the third aspect, a probe portion is formed at one end of the lever portion supported by the support portion by the probe portion forming step, the lever portion forming step, and the support portion forming step. Since the needle portion is sharpened by ion beam etching and then oxidized to remove an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe portion, a cantilever having a sharply sharpened probe portion can be formed as compared with the related art. .

In the method for manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 4,
Using the insulating film formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask,
Since the probe portion is formed by etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the probe portion of the cantilever can be easily formed by using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process. In the method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 5, since the lever portion is formed by selectively removing a part of the surface of the semiconductor substrate into which the impurity ions are introduced, a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process is used. Thus, the lever portion of the cantilever can be easily formed.

In the method for manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 6,
In the ion introduction step, boron is introduced to the surface of the semiconductor substrate by a thermal diffusion method, so that boron can be introduced into a large number of semiconductor substrates at once by batch processing. Further, since boron is introduced into the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate can be selectively etched while leaving the boron-introduced portion, and a thin-film lever can be easily formed.

In the method for manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 7,
Since the support portion was formed by forming an opening of a predetermined shape in the insulating film formed on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate and etching the back surface of the semiconductor substrate exposed from the opening,
The support portion of the cantilever can be easily formed using a generally used semiconductor manufacturing process.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process in a probe part manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an insulating film forming step in a probe part forming step.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an insulating film removing step in a probe part forming step.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an insulating film removing step in a probe part forming step.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a probe part etching step in the probe part forming step.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a conical probe portion is formed in a probe portion forming step.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the probe portion is being subjected to FIB processing in a sharpening step.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a convergent beam moves circumferentially.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a probe portion sharpened by FIB processing.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the substrate is being oxidized in the oxidation step.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a silicon oxide film has been removed in an oxide film removing step.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process in one embodiment of the method for manufacturing a cantilever of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing an insulating film forming step in a probe part forming step.

FIG. 14 is a top view of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing an insulating film removing step in a probe part forming step.

FIG. 16 is a top view of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing a probe part etching step in the probe part forming step.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conical probe portion is formed in a probe portion forming step.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing an ion introduction step in a lever part forming step.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a lever part etching step in the lever part forming step.

FIG. 21 is a top view of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lever portion etching step is completed.

FIG. 23 is a top view of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view showing an opening forming step in the support part forming step.

FIG. 25 is a bottom view of FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where an opening is formed in an opening forming step.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate removing step in the support part forming step.

FIG. 28 is a bottom view of FIG. 27.

FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the support member forming step is completed.

FIG. 30 is a top view of FIG. 29.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view showing a state in which a plurality of cantilevers are formed on a substrate.

FIG. 32 is a perspective view showing a cantilever cleaved from a substrate.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view showing a conventional cantilever.

FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view showing details of a probe unit in FIG. 33.

FIG. 35 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the side surface of the probe section is in contact with the object to be measured.

FIG. 36 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a probe portion is sharpened by FIB processing.

FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a probe portion is sharpened by a convergent beam.

FIG. 38 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a convergent beam moves circumferentially.

FIG. 39 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a convergent beam is moved in a circumferential direction with a reduced approach width.

FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a probe portion is sharpened by a convergent beam having a small proximity width.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 31 substrate (semiconductor substrate) 31a front surface 31b back surface 33 silicon oxide film (insulating film) 37 probe portion 40 silicon oxide film (oxide film) 41 boron (impurity ion) 43 opening 47 supporter portion 49 lever portion

Claims (7)

[Claims] A step of forming a probe portion on a semiconductor substrate; a step of sharpening the probe portion by ion beam etching; and an oxidation step of oxidizing a surface of the probe portion. An oxide film removing step of removing an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe portion. A method for manufacturing a probe portion, comprising: 2. The method for manufacturing a probe section according to claim 1, wherein the probe section forming step includes: forming an insulating film on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; and forming a part of the insulating film. An insulating film removing step of selectively removing; a probe part etching step of etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film remaining on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask to form the probe part; A method for manufacturing a probe section, comprising: Forming a probe portion on the semiconductor substrate; and forming the probe portion on one end of the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
A lever part forming step of forming a thin film lever part; a support part forming step of removing a part of the semiconductor substrate to form a support part supporting the lever part; A sharpening step of sharpening by beam etching, an oxidation step of oxidizing the surface of the probe section, and an oxide film removing step of removing an oxide film formed on the surface of the probe section. Manufacturing method of the cantilever. 4. The method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 3, wherein the probe portion forming step includes: forming an insulating film on a surface of the semiconductor substrate; and selectively forming a part of the insulating film. An etching step of etching the surface of the semiconductor substrate using the insulating film left on the surface of the semiconductor substrate as a mask to form the probe section. A method for manufacturing a cantilever, comprising: 5. The method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 3, wherein the lever portion forming step comprises: introducing an impurity ion to a surface of the semiconductor substrate on which the probe portion is formed; A lever portion etching step of selectively removing a part of the surface of the semiconductor substrate into which the ions have been introduced to form the lever portion. 6. The method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 5, wherein in the step of introducing ions, boron is introduced into the surface of the semiconductor substrate by a thermal diffusion method. 7. The method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 3, wherein the supporting member forming step selectively removes a part of an insulating film formed on a back surface of the semiconductor substrate to form an opening. And a substrate removing step of removing a predetermined area of the semiconductor substrate from the opening on the back surface.