JPH11230974A - Probe and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a probe having a protrusion terminating at one point and acting as a probe having a long effective part. SOLUTION: The probe 100 comprises a flat supporting part 110, and a structural part 120 protruding therefrom. The structural part 120 is defined by four faces 122, 124, 126 and 128 and has five ridges 130, 132, 134, 136 and 138. The structural part 120 has a first protrusion 140 formed by three ridges 130, 132 and 138 intersecting at one point, and a second protrusion 142 formed by three ridges 134, 136 and 138 intersecting at one point. The first and second protrusion 140, 142 have different heights measured with reference to the ridge 138 and the height A of the first protrusion 140 is higher than the height B of the second protrusion 142.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe used for nanoindentation measurement and a scanning probe microscope, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-130302 discloses Binn.
Using element technologies such as servo technology in the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) invented by ig and Rohrer et al., observe insulating samples with atomic-order accuracy that were difficult to measure with STM. Atomic force microscope (AF)
M; Atomic Force Microscope) has been proposed.

[0003] The AFM has a structure similar to the STM and is positioned as one of the scanning probe microscopes. AF
In M, a cantilever having a sharp protruding portion (tip) at its free end is opposed to and close to the sample, and the movement of the cantilever, which is displaced by the interaction force acting between the tip of the probe and atoms on the sample surface, is electrically or optically measured. By scanning the sample in the X and Y directions and relatively changing the positional relationship with the probe portion of the cantilever while measuring and measuring, the three-dimensional information of the sample is obtained.

Further, with the same device configuration as that of the AFM, measurement for capturing sample surface information other than the unevenness information of the sample, for example, magnetic characteristics and optical characteristics of the sample surface has been performed. The former is called MFM (Magnetic Force Microscopy), and the latter is called SNOM (Scanning Near Field Microscopy). MFM uses a cantilever made of a material having magnetic properties, scans while oscillating the cantilever at a position slightly away from the sample surface, and detects changes in the vibration state of the cantilever caused by the magnetic properties of the sample surface. By detecting, material properties, so-called magnetic properties of the sample surface, are mapped. In SNOM,
For example, the optical characteristics caused by the material such as the refractive index of the sample are mapped.

[0005] Further, recently, using a device similar to the SPM, called a nanoindentation measurement, a probe formed in a beam is pushed into a sample, and the process of forming a slight dent and the shape of the formed dent are described. Measurement is also performed to measure the material hardness of a sample and the like, and measurement for obtaining sample information other than topographic information such as sample unevenness is also being performed.

As a cantilever for a scanning probe microscope, a cantilever chip manufactured by applying a semiconductor IC manufacturing process is often used. For example, J.vac.Sci.Te
chnol.A8 (4) 3386 1990: T. Albrecht, S. Akamine, TE
Cantilever chips that use silicon nitride as a cantilever component, such as those introduced in Caver and CFQuate, are already on the market.

In the silicon nitride cantilever chip, the cantilever (cantilever) extending from the support portion
Is formed in the vicinity of the tip of a square pyramid-shaped protrusion having a height of several μm. Cantilever length is about 50-200μ
m, the thickness is about 0.5 to 1 μm, and the shape of the cantilever includes a hollow triangle or a rectangle.

Such a quadrangular pyramid-shaped protrusion is formed by forming holes defined by four (111) planes in a silicon wafer, depositing a silicon nitride film thereon, and then removing silicon. . Holes defined by four (111) planes are formed by wet anisotropic etching of silicon through square openings.

In this etching, if the etching rates of the four (111) planes are exactly the same, the hole will be a quadrangular pyramid ending at one point, but in reality, there is a slight difference in the etching rate of each plane. So it doesn't end at one point,
The shape resembles a wedge with two vertices. Also,
Since defects in a silicon wafer greatly affect the etching rate, the larger the height dimension of the protrusion to be formed, the larger the distance between the two vertices. When a plurality of probes are manufactured from one wafer, the variation among the plurality of probes is large.

In a protrusion having a small height, the distance between the two vertices is very small and can be regarded as substantially one point. In a protrusion having a large height, the distance between the two vertices is not negligible. .

A probe having such two vertices, in other words, a probe having two projections, is called a double tip (or twin probe), and is a factor that hinders measurement at high resolution. It has become one of.

In the manufacture of a probe having a large height, the fact that the projection is inevitably a double tip is inevitably used, and the shape of the bottom surface of the quadrangular pyramid is made into a long square.
Probes having a double-tip projection with a large distance between two vertices are commercially available. This probe is attached to an apparatus such as an AFM at an angle, and in measurement, one of two vertices is used as a probe for sensing an interaction with a sample, and the other vertex is relatively far from the probe. , The adverse effect of this on the measurement results is reduced.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-150807 describes a probe made of silicon nitride having a stably sharpened tip. There is disclosed a technique in which the bottom of a hole in a silicon wafer serving as a mold for forming a probe is sharpened by performing a low-temperature thermal oxidation treatment so as to achieve a sharpened tip of the completed probe. A silicon nitride cantilever having a quadrangular pyramid-shaped probe whose tip is sharpened by this method is already commercially available.

[0014]

Therefore, if a low-temperature thermal oxidation sharpening treatment is applied when a wedge-shaped probe having a rectangular bottom surface is formed, the two projections are sharpened, and the effective portion of the probe ( The portion near the tip of the probe that contributes to the measurement) can be sharpened more finely. That is, the aspect ratio (the ratio of the height of the probe to the representative length of the bottom surface of the probe) of the probe effective portion can be increased.

However, the length of the effective portion of the wedge-shaped sharpened probe thus manufactured is about 0.2 to 0.3 μm, and even if the probe closer to the sample is used for measurement, Since the other probe has the same length, the sample that can be measured is limited to one having such a surface roughness. For samples having a surface roughness higher than that, the measurement becomes less reliable and cannot be used with confidence.

Further, for a sample having more unevenness, it is expected that the projection farther from the sample will hit the sample and affect the measurement data. In this case, too, the reliability of the measurement is also low. , Can not be used with confidence.

An object of the present invention is to provide a probe which has a projection which terminates at one point and which acts as a probe having a long effective portion, and a method for stably producing such a probe. That is.

[0018]

A probe according to the present invention comprises a flat support and a convex structure protruding from the support, the convex structure being defined by four surfaces, and the four surfaces being defined by the four surfaces. Five ridge lines are formed, and the five ridge lines extend so that three of them intersect at one point in two places, and the convex structure portion is formed by actually intersecting three ridge lines It has a first protrusion and a second protrusion, and the first protrusion and the second protrusion have a height measured with reference to a ridge connecting two places where three ridges intersect. Is different.

In the method of manufacturing a probe according to the present invention for manufacturing the probe, a step of preparing a silicon substrate having (100) as a main surface and forming the silicon substrate with four (111) planes are performed. A step of forming a rectangular hole with an opening shape and four (111) holes forming the hole;
Thermally oxidizing the silicon of the surface to bend the surface forming the hole, depositing a silicon nitride film on the silicon substrate, removing the silicon substrate after patterning the silicon nitride film, and removing the silicon substrate. Exposing a convex structure having two protrusions made of silicon nitride deposited on the substrate, and irradiating one of the two protrusions of the protrusion with an ion beam to reduce the height of one of the protrusions And a step of performing

Another probe of the present invention comprises a flat support and a convex structure protruding from the support, the convex structure being defined by four surfaces, and by the four surfaces, five convex structures. A ridgeline is formed, five ridgelines extend so that three of them intersect at one point in two places, and the convex structure portion is a projection formed by actually intersecting three ridgelines, And an opening formed at a portion where the three ridge lines intersect.

In the method of manufacturing a probe according to the present invention for manufacturing the probe, a step of preparing a silicon substrate having (100) as a main surface, and forming the silicon substrate with four (111) planes are performed. A step of forming a rectangular hole with an opening shape and four (111) holes forming the hole;
Thermally oxidizing the silicon of the surface to bend the surface forming the hole, depositing a silicon nitride film on the silicon substrate, and forming a hole in the deepest portion having two holes with respect to the deposited silicon nitride film. A step of forming an opening in a portion corresponding to one side, and a patterning of the silicon nitride film, removing the silicon substrate, and a convex structure portion having one projection and one opening made of silicon nitride deposited in the hole. And exposing the same.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> A probe according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG.
Has a flat support portion 110 and a convex structure portion 120 protruding from the support portion 110. The convex structure 120 is defined by four surfaces 122, 124, 126, 128, and these four surfaces 122, 124, 12
6, 128, five ridgelines 130, 132, 134,
136, 138 are formed. Five ridgelines 130,
132, 134, 136 and 138 extend so that three of them intersect at one point in two places.

The convex structure 120 has three ridges 130, 1
It has a first projection 140 formed by intersecting the points 32 and 138 at one point, and a second projection 142 formed by intersecting the three ridgelines 134, 136 and 138 at one point.

The first protrusion 140 is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces, and ends exactly at one point. For this reason,
It has a very high aspect ratio. First protrusion 1
40 and the second protrusion 142 have different heights measured with reference to the ridgeline 138, and the height A of the first protrusion 140 is larger than the height B of the second protrusion 142.

The convex structure 120 is made of silicon nitride, and the support 110 is made of glass 112 and a silicon nitride film 114 provided thereon. For example, the height from the surface of the support portion 110 to the tip of the protrusion of the convex structure 120 is 7 μm, the length of the short side of the rectangle on the bottom surface of the convex structure 120 is 10 μm, and the length of the long side is 15 μm.
The height of the higher protrusion 140 measured from the ridge line 138 is 0.3 μm.

A method of manufacturing the probe according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A: A silicon wafer 202 having a (100) plane as a main surface is prepared, and a silicon nitride film 204 is formed thereon by L.
It is deposited by P-CVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition). A rectangular opening 206 is formed in the silicon nitride film 204 by photolithography. Typically, this opening 206
In order to produce a plurality of probes having the same shape by batch fabrication, a plurality of probes are produced on one silicon wafer 202. The silicon wafer 202 is wet anisotropically etched from the opening 206 with an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide to form a hole 208 formed by four (111) planes of silicon.

FIG. 2B: The silicon wafer 202 thus processed is placed in a heat diffusion furnace, and the exposed silicon is oxidized at 950 ° C. to form a silicon oxide film 210.
To form Due to this oxidation treatment, two particularly deep curved portions are formed at the bottom of the hole 208.

FIG. 2C: Thereafter, the silicon nitride film 204 is once removed using hot phosphoric acid, and the silicon nitride film 212 is deposited again by LP-CVD. FIG. 2 (d):
After the silicon nitride film 212 is patterned into a desired shape and the glass 214 is anodically bonded, the silicon wafer 202 and the silicon oxide film 210 are removed by wet etching with a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution and hydrofluoric acid, respectively.

Thus, a preformed product of the probe of the present embodiment is obtained. This preform has two projections 216 and 218 of the same height. Projections 216 and 218
Has a pointed shape toward the top of the figure due to the oxidation treatment of the silicon forming the hole 208.

FIG. 2 (e): FIB for the preform
One of the protrusions 218 is shaved by (focused ion beam) processing and is made lower than the other protrusion 216. FIG. 2F: As a result, the probe of the present embodiment in which the height of one protrusion 218 is reduced as compared with the height of the other protrusion 216 is obtained.

In the probe 100 of the present embodiment manufactured as described above, as shown in FIG.
40 has a very high aspect ratio because it is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces and terminates at one point. Also, the height B of the second protrusion 142 is equal to that of the first protrusion 140.
Since the height A is smaller than the height A, the convex structure 120 functions as a probe having a long effective portion in measurement.

Hereinafter, the results of nanoindentation measurement using the probe 100 of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6A shows a device configuration for performing nanoindentation measurement.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the probe 1
Reference numeral 00 denotes a piezoelectric body 3 fixed to the cantilever beam 302 supported by the support member 304 by bonding and fixed to the base 310.
The sample 12 is opposed to a sample 316 placed on a sample stage 314 provided at the upper end of the sample No. 12.

While keeping the glass surface of the probe 100 and the surface of the sample 316 parallel, the piezoelectric body 312 is gradually extended, and the probe 100 is pressed against the sample 316. The pushing amount is adjusted by observing the deformation state of the cantilever beam 302 with the displacement sensor 322 while measuring the extension amount of the piezoelectric body 312 with the displacement sensor 320.

The probe 100 is placed on the sample 316 by 0.1 μm.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, substantially triangular indentations were formed on the sample surface. In addition, only one triangular indent was formed on the sample surface.

From these results, it can be seen that the probe 10 of the present embodiment
In nanoindentation measurement using 0, it can be determined that only one protrusion 140 interacted with the sample. In addition, as a comparative example, nanoindentation measurement using a preform obtained immediately after the step of FIG. 2D was also performed.

FIG. 3 shows a preformed product obtained immediately after the step of FIG. 2D. The preform 100 ′ is the same as the probe 100 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that the protrusion 142 ′ is slightly different.

The projection 142 ′ has a height A similar to that of the projection 144 before the FIB processing is performed.
As described above, with respect to this preformed product 100 ', F
By the IB processing, the protruding portion 142 ′ having the height A is transformed into the protruding portion 142 having the height B, and the probe 100 of the present embodiment is obtained.

As a result of performing nanoindentation measurement using the preformed product 100 ′ of the probe 100 of the present embodiment in the same manner as the measurement using the probe 100 of the present embodiment, FIG. As shown in d), two substantially triangular indentations were formed.

From these results, it can be seen that the probe 10 of the present embodiment
In the nanoindentation measurement using the zero preform 100 ′, it is clear that both protrusions interact with the sample. For this reason, it is difficult to specify the degree of the interaction acting on each projection, and it can be understood that it is not suitable for nanoindentation measurement.

<Second Embodiment> A probe according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the probe 400 includes a flat support 410,
A convex structure 420 protruding from the support 410 is provided. The convex structure 420 has four surfaces 422, 424, and 4
26, 428, and these four faces 422, 424, 426, 428 define five ridge lines 4
30, 432, 434, 436 and 438 are formed. Five ridgelines 430, 432, 434, 436, 43
8 extends so that three of them meet at one point in two places.

The convex structure 420 has three ridge lines 430, 4
A projection 440 formed by the intersection of 32 and 438 at one point
And a circular opening 450 formed at a portion where three ridge lines 434, 436 and 438 normally intersect.

The protrusion 440 is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces, and ends exactly at one point. For this reason, it has a very high aspect ratio. The convex structure 420 is made of silicon nitride, and the support 410 is made of glass 41.
2 and a silicon nitride film 414 provided thereon.

For example, the height from the surface of the support portion 410 to the tip of the projection of the convex structure 420 is 7 μm, and the height of the convex structure 420 is high.
The length of the short side of the rectangle on the bottom surface is 10 μm, and the length of the long side is 15 μm. Also, the protrusion 4 measured from the ridgeline 438
The height of 40 is 0.3 μm. The circular opening 450 has a diameter of 3 μm.

Hereinafter, a method for fabricating the probe of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A: A silicon wafer 502 having a (100) plane as a main surface is prepared, and a silicon nitride film 504 is
It is deposited by P-CVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition). A rectangular opening 506 is formed in the silicon nitride film 504 by photolithography. Typically, this opening 506 is
In order to produce a plurality of probes of the same shape by batch fabrication, a plurality of probes are produced on one silicon wafer 502. The silicon wafer 502 is wet anisotropically etched from the opening 506 with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution to form holes 508 formed by four (111) planes of silicon.

FIG. 5B: The silicon wafer 502 thus processed is placed in a heat diffusion furnace, and the exposed silicon is oxidized at 950 ° C. to form a silicon oxide film 510.
To form The oxidation process forms two particularly deep portions 522 and 524 that are curved at the bottom of the hole 508.

FIG. 5C: Thereafter, the silicon nitride film 504 is once removed using hot phosphoric acid, and the silicon nitride film 512 is deposited again by LP-CVD. FIG. 5D: Resist 52 on silicon nitride film 512
6 and a particularly deep portion 524 of one of the bottoms of the holes 508
Then, a circular opening 528 having a diameter of 3 μm is formed. Dry etching is performed using the resist 526 in which the opening 528 is formed as a mask to form a hole 530 penetrating the silicon nitride film 512.

FIG. 5E: An annealing process is performed again in a heat diffusion furnace, and after the glass 514 is anodically bonded to the silicon nitride film 512, the silicon wafer 502 and the silicon oxide film 510 are respectively subjected to an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution and It is removed by wet etching with hydrofluoric acid. As a result, the probe of the present embodiment including one protrusion 518 and the opening 532 is obtained.

In the probe 400 thus manufactured according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Has a very high aspect ratio because it is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces and terminates at one point. Also,
The convex structure 420 has no protrusion other than the protrusion 440, and thus acts as a probe having a long effective portion for measurement.

Using the probe 400 of the present embodiment, nanoindentation measurement was performed under exactly the same conditions as in the first embodiment. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (c), substantially triangular indentations were formed. In addition, only one triangular indent was formed on the sample surface.

From these results, it can be seen that the probe 40 of the present embodiment
A value of 0 indicates that only the protrusion 440 interacts with the sample, and thus indicates that the probe is a preferable probe for nanoindentation measurement.

<Third Embodiment> A third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment is a cantilever tip applied to a scanning probe microscope.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cantilever chip 600 has a cantilever 604 supported by a support member 602 in a cantilever manner. The upper surface of the cantilever 604 and the support member 602 is coated with gold 6
06 is given.

A protruding structure 620 protruding downward is formed near the tip of the cantilever 604. The convex structure 620 has the same structure as the convex structure 420 of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

That is, the convex structure 620 of the present embodiment corresponds to the convex structure 420 of the second embodiment, and the cantilever 602 of the present embodiment corresponds to the support 410 of the second embodiment. It corresponds to.

The convex structure portion 620 is defined by four surfaces, and these four surfaces form five ridge lines. The convex structure portion 620 includes a projection 640 formed by three ridges of the three crossing at one point, and a circular opening 65 formed at a portion where the three ridges normally intersect.
0.

The protrusion 640 has an extremely high aspect ratio because it is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces and terminates at one point. In addition, the convex structure portion 620 includes the protrusion 4
Since there is no projection other than 40, it functions as a probe having a long effective portion.

In the cantilever chip 604 of this embodiment, the length of the cantilever 604 is 108 μm and the width is 50 μm.
μm, and the thickness is 1.8 μm. The length of the short side of the rectangle on the bottom surface of the convex structure portion 620 is 10 μm, and the length of the long side is 15 μm.
m, the overall height C of the convex structure 620 is about 7 μm,
The height D of the protrusion 640 effective for measurement is about 0.3 μm. The diameter of the opening 650 is 3 μm.

Next, a method of manufacturing the probe of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A: A silicon wafer 702 having a (100) plane as a main surface is prepared, and a silicon nitride film 704 is
It is deposited by P-CVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition). A rectangular opening 706 is formed in the silicon nitride film 704 by photolithography. Typically, this opening 706 is
In order to produce a plurality of probes of the same shape by batch fabrication, a plurality of probes are produced on one silicon wafer 702. A silicon wafer 702 is wet anisotropically etched from the opening 706 with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution to form holes 708 formed by four (111) planes of silicon.

FIG. 8B: The silicon wafer 702 thus processed is placed in a heat diffusion furnace, and the exposed silicon is oxidized at 950 ° C. to form a silicon oxide film 710.
To form The oxidation process forms two particularly deep portions 722, 724 curved at the bottom of the hole 708.

FIG. 8C: Thereafter, the silicon nitride film 704 is once removed using hot phosphoric acid, and the silicon nitride film 712 is deposited again by LP-CVD. FIG. 8D: A resist 72 is formed on the silicon nitride film 712.
6 is deposited and patterned into a cantilever shape.
At this time, a circular opening 728 having a diameter of 3 μm is formed in one particularly deep portion 724 of the bottom of the hole 708. Dry etching is performed using the patterned resist 726 as a mask to form a hole 73 penetrating the silicon nitride film 712.
While forming 0, the silicon nitride film 712 is formed into a cantilever shape.

FIG. 8 (e): After being again placed in a heat diffusion furnace to perform an annealing process to form an oxide film on the cantilever, Pyrex glass 732 is anodically bonded to the silicon nitride film 712. The position where the Pyrex glass 732 is anodically bonded is selected to be a distance from the hole 708 by a distance corresponding to the length of the cantilever to be manufactured.

FIG. 8F: The silicon wafer 702 and the silicon oxide film 710 are removed by wet etching with an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid, respectively. As a result, a convex structure portion 740 having one protrusion 742 and an opening 744 is obtained.

FIG. 8 (g): Finally, gold is vacuum-deposited on the upper surfaces of the silicon nitride film 712 and the pyrex glass 732 in a cantilever shape to form a reflective film 734, thereby obtaining the cantilever chip of this embodiment.

In the cantilever chip 600 of the present embodiment manufactured as described above, as shown in FIG. 7, the projection 640 is defined by three inwardly convex surfaces, and therefore, is surely terminated at one point. Due to having a very high aspect ratio.

As shown in FIG. 9, the probe 600 of this embodiment was used by attaching it to an atomic force microscope (AFM) at an inclination angle (θ) of 10 degrees. FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the basic configuration of the AFM, and omits specific configurations such as a controller unit and a computer.

The basic configuration of an AFM to which the probe of this embodiment can be applied is described in, for example,
No. 64 and JP-A-6-180227.
The sample 808 is placed on a sample stage 806 supported by a free end of a piezoelectric scanner 804 fixed to a base 802. The cantilever chip 600 is supported at an inclination angle of 10 degrees, and the convex structure 620 is disposed near the surface of the sample 808.

The cantilever 604 shows a displacement according to the interaction between the projection 640 and the sample 808, and the displacement sensor 810 detects the displacement of the cantilever 604. The control unit 812 outputs the XY scanning signal to the piezoelectric scanner 8.
04, and scans the sample 808 relatively to the projection 640 in the XY direction, and supplies a Z servo signal based on information obtained by the displacement sensor 810 to the piezoelectric scanner 804 to scan the projection 640 and the sample 808. Control the interval.

In the probe 600 of this embodiment, since only one of the protrusions 640 protrudes from the convex structure 620, it is possible to measure with high resolution even a sample having a large difference in height of the surface irregularities. .

This can be easily understood by imagining, as a comparative example, a cantilever chip further provided with a projection 642 drawn by a broken line in FIG. Such a cantilever chip is manufactured by performing processing without forming an opening 728 in the resist 726 in the step of FIG. Such cantilever tips are referred to by those skilled in the art as double tip cantilever tips and are commercially available.

The tip of the projection 640 and the virtual projection 642
If the distance between the tips of the cantilever is 5 μm, the cantilever tip 6
In a state where 00 is supported at an inclination angle of 10 degrees, the height difference between the tip of the projection 640 and the tip of the virtual projection 642 is less than 0.9 μm. Therefore, when measuring a sample having a surface height difference of 0.9 μm or more, a situation may occur in which the protrusion 642 hinders the contact between the protrusion 640 and the sample. In this case, since the displacement of the cantilever 604 is caused by the interaction between the protrusion 642 and the sample, the information obtained by the displacement sensor 810 becomes inaccurate.

On the other hand, the probe 60 of the present embodiment
In the measurement using 0, since there is nothing that hinders the contact between the projection 640 and the sample, the above-mentioned undesired situation cannot occur, and therefore, a sample having a surface height difference exceeding 1 μm can be used. On the other hand, high-resolution measurement can be performed.

There is no problem even if the convex structure 620 of the present embodiment is replaced with the convex structure 120 of the first embodiment. That is, the convex structure 620 of the present embodiment can be manufactured so as to correspond to the convex structure 120 of the first embodiment. In this case, in FIG. 2D of the first embodiment, the silicon nitride film 212 is patterned into a cantilever shape, and the glass 214 is anodically bonded to the same position as the Pyrex glass 723 shown in FIG. do it. That is, the glass 214 is anodically bonded to a position away from the hole 208 by a distance corresponding to the length of the cantilever to be manufactured.

In the present embodiment, the opening 650 has a circular shape. However, the opening 650 may have any other shape. Further, the opening 650 is formed in the convex structure 620.
It does not need to stay at the cantilever 604. Further, the cantilever 604 may extend to the root, and as a result, the cantilever 604 may have a U-shape.

As described above, some embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example of a probe used for an AFM device or nanoindentation measurement has been described. However, the probe of the present invention can be used as a main member of a MFM or SNOM probe. For example, a probe for MFM can be easily manufactured by coating a material having magnetic properties from the protrusion side in the third embodiment.

For application to SNOM, for example, the probe of the third embodiment is used to irradiate a sample with light through an opening or to detect light generated from the sample through the opening. Is done.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-247557 proposes a photoacoustic spectrometer using a scanning probe microscope for measuring a thermal wave and evaluating a sample characteristic related to heat propagation of the sample. The device heats the sample by irradiating a part of the sample surface with the condensed light, generates a thermal wave, and measures the displacement of the sample near the sample surface away from the light irradiation position. Is a device that measures the displacement of the sample using a probe and measures the state of propagation of the thermal wave.

The probe of the present invention, particularly the probe having an opening as described in the third embodiment, is also suitable as a probe for such use. That is, a thermal wave excitation light source is arranged above the probe of the present invention,
When light is irradiated to a desired position on the sample through the through-opening of the probe, the position of the opening and the position of the protrusion of the probe are determined with extremely high accuracy of photolithography. The distance of the wave measurement position can be specified. As described in JP-A-2-247557, when the unit on the light irradiation side and the unit on the thermal wave detection side are substantially separate, the position between the excitation position of the sample by light and the measurement position of the thermal wave is changed. When it is necessary to identify the distance, it is necessary to measure the distance between the two by adding another means. However, the use of the probe of the present invention eliminates the need.

For example, the cantilever-type probe described in the third embodiment is attached to a photoacoustic spectrometer as shown in FIG. For the purpose of explanation, the probe is shown in a sectional view taken along an opening in the figure. A semiconductor laser 904 is disposed above the cantilever 604 as a light source for exciting a thermal wave, and a condenser lens 905 is disposed in front of the semiconductor laser 904 so that the sample surface 907 can be irradiated with excitation light through an opening 908 of the probe. The displacement of the sample when the thermal wave propagates through the sample is detected by the protrusion 640 of the probe, and the displacement deforms the cantilever 604. The deformation of the cantilever 604 is measured by an optical lever type displacement sensor. The optical lever type displacement sensor includes a semiconductor laser 901,
It comprises a condenser lens 902, a cantilever 604, and a four-division photodiode 903. In order to prevent the light of the excitation light source from entering the optical cantilever displacement sensor as stray light, the light wavelength of the optical cantilever displacement sensor of the AFM device and the light wavelength of the excitation light source are set to different wavelengths. An optical filter 906 that cuts light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser 904 is disposed in front of the photodetector 903. Further, the present invention can be applied to a probe of a prober used for confirming an operation of an electric characteristic of a semiconductor IC, and the present invention includes an application to such a probe.

[0081]

According to the present invention, there is provided a probe having a projection which terminates at one point and which functions as a probe having a long effective portion. In the AFM measurement using this probe, the measurement can be performed at a higher resolution.
In the nanoindentation measurement using this probe, stable and reliable data can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a probe used for nanoindentation measurement according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a step of producing the probe of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a preform of the probe of FIG. 1 obtained after the step of FIG. 2 (d).

FIG. 4 shows a probe used for nanoindentation measurement according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a step of producing the probe of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an apparatus used for nanoindentation measurement,
An indentation formed on the sample surface by the probe of FIG. 1,
Indentations formed on the sample surface by the probe of FIG.
4 shows an indentation formed on the sample surface by the preform of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 shows a cantilever tip used for AFM measurement according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a step of producing the probe of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates an atomic force microscope using the probe of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 schematically shows a photoacoustic spectrometer using the probe of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 probe 110 support part 120 convex structure part 140 protrusion

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A probe comprising a flat supporting portion and a convex structure protruding from the supporting portion, wherein the convex structure is defined by four surfaces, and the four surfaces form five ridge lines. The five ridges extend so that three of them intersect at two points at one point, and the convex structure has a first protrusion formed by the actual intersection of the three ridges and a second protrusion. A probe having different projections, wherein the first projection and the second projection have different heights measured with reference to a ridge connecting two locations where three ridges intersect. 2. A probe comprising a flat support portion and a convex structure protruding from the support portion, wherein the convex structure portion is defined by four surfaces, and the four surfaces form five ridge lines. The five ridge lines extend so that three of them intersect at one point in two places. The convex structure is composed of a protrusion formed by actually intersecting the three ridge lines and a three ridge line. And an opening formed at a portion where the probe intersects. 3. A step of preparing a silicon substrate having (100) as a main surface, a step of forming a hole in the silicon substrate having a rectangular opening formed by four (111) planes, A step of thermally oxidizing the silicon of the four (111) surfaces to be formed to bend the surface to form the holes; a step of depositing a silicon nitride film on the silicon substrate; Removing the convex structure having two protrusions made of silicon nitride deposited in the hole, and irradiating one of the two protrusions of the protrusion with an ion beam to form one of the protrusions. Reducing the height of the part. 4. A step of preparing a silicon substrate having (100) as a main surface, a step of forming a hole having a rectangular opening formed by four (111) planes in the silicon substrate, Thermally oxidizing the silicon of the four (111) surfaces to be formed to bend the surface to form the holes; depositing a silicon nitride film on the silicon substrate; A step of forming an opening at a position corresponding to one of the two deepest parts; one projection and one opening made of silicon nitride deposited in the hole by patterning the silicon nitride film and removing the silicon substrate Exposing the convex structure portion provided with: