Classifications

• • 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
  • G01Q60/24—AFM [Atomic Force Microscopy] or apparatus therefor, e.g. AFM probes
  • G01Q60/38—Probes, their manufacture, or their related instrumentation, e.g. holders
  • G01Q60/40—Conductive probes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
  • G01Q70/00—General aspects of SPM probes, their manufacture or their related instrumentation, insofar as they are not specially adapted to a single SPM technique covered by group G01Q60/00
  • G01Q70/08—Probe characteristics
  • G01Q70/14—Particular materials
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S977/00—Nanotechnology
  • Y10S977/84—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure
  • Y10S977/849—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure with scanning probe
  • Y10S977/86—Scanning probe structure
  • Y10S977/865—Magnetic force probe
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S977/00—Nanotechnology
  • Y10S977/84—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure
  • Y10S977/849—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure with scanning probe
  • Y10S977/86—Scanning probe structure
  • Y10S977/873—Tip holder

Definitions

• the present invention relates to scanning probe microscopy, and in particular to the construction of a microscope and force-sensing probes in the form of cantilevers for use in atomic force microscopy.
• the deflection of a flexible cantilever is used to monitor the interaction between a probe-tip and a surface under study. As the tip is brought close to the surface, it deflects in response to interactions with the surface under study. These deflections are used to control the distance of the tip from the surface and to measure details of the surface.
• an atomic force microscope in an oscillating mode. In this mode (known as AC mode), the cantilever is vibrated at a high frequency, and the change in amplitude (or phase) of the cantilever as it approaches a surface is used to control the microscope.
• AC mode the cantilever is vibrated at a high frequency, and the change in amplitude (or phase) of the cantilever as it approaches a surface is used to control the microscope.
• the oscillation is used mainly as a means of avoiding the effects of adhesion between the tip and surface.
• adhesion is easily avoided by chemical means.
• the microscope may be operated in a fluid which minimizes adhesion.
• a tip material can be chosen so as to minimize its adhesion to the surface under study. In that case, there is no reason to operate the microscope at a large amplitude of oscillation.
• the usual method of exciting motion in the AFM cantilever is to drive it with an acoustic excitation.
• This method works well in air or gas and has been made to work with the tip submerged in water as taught by Hansma et al, "Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy in Liquids," Appl. Phys. Lett. 64: 1738-1740 (1994) and Putman et al, "Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy in Liquid," Appl. Phys. Lett. 64: 2454- 2456 (1994).
• the motions of the cantilever become viscously damped, so that substantial acoustic amplitude is required to drive motion of the cantilever.
• the fluid acts as a coupling medium between the source of acoustic excitation and parts of the microscope other than the cantilever.
• the result is that parts of the microscope other than the cantilever get excited by the acoustic signal used to vibrate the cantilever. If these motions lead to a signal in the detector, a background signal is generated which is spurious and not sensitive to the interaction between the tip and surface.
• M is the magnetic moment
• dB/dz is applied along the same direction as the magnetic moment
• FIG. 2 Another prior art procedure as taught in Lindsay, U.S. Patent No. 5,612,491 , Lindsay, U.S. Patent No. 5,866,805 and Cleveland et al, U.S. Patent No. 5,670,712, is illustrated in Fig. 2.
• a film or particle 5 is magnetized so that its moment, M, 6, points along the soft axis of the cantilever 2.
• a magnetic field, B, 7, is directed perpendicular to the magnetic moment on the cantilever 6.
• the present invention provides force sensing probes for use in scanning probe microscopes and a method for coating such probes with a film comprising a magnetostrictive material.
• the probes are magnetized by placing them in a magnetic field which can be oriented in any direction with respect to the probe.
• the magnetostrictive effect leads to a compression or expansion of the magnetic film, altering its length by the strength of the applied field.
• This causes the probe, which in a preferred embodiment is in the form of a cantilever, and the applied magnetic film, to deflect or bend.
• the present invention obtains the advantages that the consequent motion of the probe is much greater than that obtained by direct application of a magnetic force and the effect is not sensitive to the direction of the applied field. Because of the greater consequent motion, a large number of magnetostrictive materials may be utilized, including those which are resistant to oxidation and/or corrosion in hostile environments.
• the magnetostrictive material preferably comprises material selected from the group consisting of nickel; cobalt; alloys and mixtures of terbium and iron such as Terfenol-D, commercially available from ETREMA Products, Inc., Ames, IA; alloys and mixtures of iron, neodymium and boron; alloys and mixtures of nickel and iron; alloys and mixtures of cobalt and iron; alloys and mixtures of nickel and vanadium; alloys and mixtures of nickel and chrome; alloys and mixtures of nickel and manganese; alloys and mixtures of nickel and cobalt; alloys and mixtures of nickel and copper; alloys and mixtures of beryllium and iron; alloys and mixtures of aluminum and iron; alloys and mixtures of germanium and iron; alloys and mixtures of silicon and iron; alloy
• the probe comprises a cantilever having a top surface and a bottom surface, with the bottom surface including a probe tip disposed downwardly therefrom.
• the film comprising magnetostrictive material may be coated onto either the top or bottom surface of the cantilever structure.
• the magnetostrictive material is coated onto the top surface of the cantilever, and the cantilever includes a coating of a different material disposed over the bottom surface and the probe tip.
• the different material also comprises a magnetostrictive material.
• the probe is used in a scanning probe microscope such as an atomic force microscope for sensing the properties of a surface or interface.
• a scanning probe microscope such as an atomic force microscope for sensing the properties of a surface or interface.
• a microscope includes the probe, and a film comprising a magnetostrictive material on the probe, a source for producing a magnetic field to cause deflection of the probe, and a detector for sensing the deflection of the probe.
• the invention also includes a method of magnetizing a probe for sensing the properties of a surface or interface comprising the steps of forming a film comprising a magnetostrictive material on a surface of the probe and exposing the probe to a magnetic field in the range of from about 0.1 to about 20,000 Oersteds.
• the force sensing cantilever is provided and has a top surface, a bottom surface and a probe tip extending downwardly from the bottom surface.
• the cantilever is placed in a sputter deposition chamber, and a first film comprising a magnetostrictive material is sputter deposited onto the bottom surface of the cantilever followed by sputter depositing a second film of a different material onto the top surface of the cantilever and over the probe tip.
• the different material is also a magnetostrictive material. Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a more sensitive method to create magnetic deflection of scanning probe microscope cantilevers and for magnetic materials which are more resistant to oxidation and/or corrosion than iron-containing alloys.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the deflection of a cantilever with a magnetic particle and a field gradient according to the prior art
• Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of the deflection of a cantilever through a field- generated torque acting on the magnetic moment of a cantilever according to the prior art
• Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of the dimensional change in a material owing to magnetostriction
• Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a film of magnetostrictive material on a non- magnetostrictive cantilever at zero applied magnetic field
• Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration of a film of magnetostrictive material on a non- mag netostrictive cantilever at a non-zero applied magnetic field
• Fig. 6 is a schematic illustration defining an axial angle, q, of orientation between a magnetization and the plane of the cantilever;
• Fig. 7 is a schematic illustration defining an azimuthal angle, f, of orientation between a magnetization and the plane of the cantilever
• Fig. 10 is a chart of the magnetization M, vs. applied magnetic field H, for a series of sweeps of H after stepping to successively higher values (1 ,2,3,4) of H after each sweep from the first sweep; and Fig. 11 is a schematic illustration of a scanning probe microscope utilizing the force sensing cantilever of the present invention.
• the present invention makes use of the magnetostrictive properties of many magnetic materials such as, for example, those listed in Du Tremolet de Lacheisserie, "Magnetostriction, Theory and Applications of Magnetoelasticity," CRC Press (1993).
• the absolute volume may shrink; alternatively, it may increase.
• the strain, I is dimensionless, so d 33 has units of inverse applied field, or, in the MKS system, meters/Ampere (m/A).
• d 33 The magnetostrictivity, d 33 is a complicated function of many parameters, and manufacturers usually quote maximum values, d 33 max . Values for some materials are listed below (data are from Du Tremolet de Lacheisserie):
• Table 1 Magnetostrictivity for some magnetic materials.
• Du Tremolet de Lacheisserie also provides data for a number of other materials and estimates can be made from the plots of I vs. H given there. A value of 5x10 9 m/A is typical for a number of materials.
• the magnetostrictive effect arises from the rotation of domains within a magnetized sample.
• H s For magnetic fields below the saturation field of the sample, H s , domains exist in all possible orientations, but with a net overall alignment equal to the net magnetization. Therefore, provided that magnetization proceeds by rotation of domains (as opposed to free flow of domain walls), the magnetostriction can be an isotropic effect independent of the orientation between the applied field and any net magnetization of the sample.
• a film of magnetostrictive material 10 is deposited onto a surface 21 of the cantilever 11 such as, for example, by sputter deposition techniques.
• Cantilever 11 also includes a bottom surface 22 and a probe tip 23 extending downwardly therefrom.
• Cantilever 11 has a thickness t 0 a length L, a Young's modulus E c and a Poisson's ratio n 0 .
• the film 10 changes length to L-IL while the cantilever 11 remains the same length, resulting in a displacement, d, of the end of the cantilever.
• a material with positive magnetostriction would change length to L+IL, resulting in a downward movement.
• the displacement, d is defined as
• magnetostrictive material 10 was deposited onto top surface 21 of the cantilever.
• An example of a magnetostrictive material which could be so deposited is nickel. It is also within the scope of the invention to deposit the film of magnetostrictive material onto the bottom surface 22 of cantilever 11.
• deposition of a film on the top or bottom surface only of cantilever 11 may cause the cantilever to have a tendency to curl.
• a film of a second material which itself may be a magnetostrictive material, may be deposited onto the opposite surface of the cantilever, which in the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5 would be bottom surface 22 of the cantilever.
• the magnetostrictivity values of the two materials may be chosen to complement one another.
• one of the materials may be chosen to have a positive magnetostrictivity while the other has a negative magnetostrictivity.
• a key signature of the magnetostrictive effect is its lack of a strong dependence on the angle between the applied field and the magnetization direction of the film.
• Fig. 6 illustrates a possible orientation of the magnetization M, 16 with respect to the long axis 19 of the cantilever 11 , denoted by the angle q.
• the applied magnetic field, H, 15 is shown normal to the plane of the cantilever.
• FIG. 7 shows another orientation, where the angle j between the magnetization M, 17 and the long axis 19 of cantilever 11 is defined with respect to a line perpendicular to the long axis of the cantilever and lying in the plane of the cantilever.
• the films magnetized with the applied field lying 45° out of the plane of the cantilever were in fact magnetized in plane, because of the shape anisotropy of thin films which makes it difficult to magnetize them out of the plane.
• the film magnetized in-plane but perpendicular to its length would produce no displacement of the end of the tip by the direct-force mechanism because the torque would act to twist the cantilever about its long axis. It is clear that the displacement of these films is dominated by a magnetostrictive effect as opposed to a direct magnetic force effect.
• H s This upper value of field is H s , 6.
• M R the remnant magnetization, that characterizes the strongest permanent magnet that can be made with the material (corresponding to a remnant field at the magnet pole, B R .).
• H c the magnetization falls to zero.
• H c is the coercive field.
• Equation 10 shows that it is desirable to (a) use a material with a high residual magnetization and (b) magnetize it by bringing it to a field which is on the order of H s /2.
• H s - 0.5-1T, since it is determined by the density of atomic spins. Therefore, the films need to be treated by bringing them from their virgin (unmagnetized state) into a field of 0.25 to 0.5T (2.5 to 5kOe).
• Cantilevers have also been coated with about a 100 nanometer thick film of cobalt, obtaining similar results, which implies that d 33 for a cobalt film is on the order of 10 9 m/A. Similar results have been obtained with nickel. Both cobalt and nickel are much less susceptible to oxidation and corrosion than iron-containing magnetic alloys.
• the cantilevers commercial silicon-nitride devices available as Ultralevers from Park Scientific of Sunnyvale, CA, are coated on one surface, preferably the top surface, with a film of about a 100 nanometer thickness of Co, Ni or Fe-Nd-B alloy by means of argon-ion sputtering of a target.
• the opposite (bottom) surface of the cantilevers is coated with a 5 to 10 nanometer thickness of a different material such as, for example, chrome to compensate for any bending caused by the application of the magnetostrictive film as described in an earlier patent application, Serial No. 08/710,191.
• the cantilevers are then magnetized in a field of about 3kOe. They are mounted, for example, in an atomic force microscope close to the pole piece of a solenoid, the field of which may be oriented at any angle to the cantilever.
• such a microscope includes a cantilever 28, having a film 29 comprising a magnetostrictive material on the top surface thereof.
• Cantilever 28 includes a probe tip 30 extending from the bottom surface thereof toward sample 32.
• the probe tip 30 is scanned over the surface 34 of sample 32 by a piezo-electric scanner 36.
• Deflections of cantilever 28 are detected by directing a focused beam of radiation 38a from, for example, a laser 40 off of the reflective surface of film 29 to form a reflected beam 38b.
• the angular position of beam 38b is sensed by a position sensitive detector 42.
• a solenoid 44 in close proximity to cantilever 28 is driven by an AC signal on lines 46 and 48 from an oscillator 50.
• the resulting alternating magnetic field causes cantilever 28 to oscillate.
• This oscillating motion appears as an AC signal component in the signal on line 52 which is detected by position sensitive detector 42.
• This signal on line 52 is fed to a synchronous detector 54.
• a reference input 56 for synchronous detector 54 is provided by the same oscillator 50 that drives solenoid 44.
• Output 58 of synchronous detector 54 is used to control the height of cantilever 28 above the sample surface 34 and an AFM image of the surface 34 is formed from the corresponding height adjustments in a conventional manner.
• magnetostrictive alloys including nickel-iron, cobalt-iron, nickel-vanadium, nickel-chrome, nickel-manganese, nickel-cobalt, nickel-copper, beryllium-iron, aluminum-iron, germanium-iron, silicon-iron and the oxides of titanium-iron, manganese-iron, cobalt-iron, copper-iron, barium-iron and strontium-iron, and the commercial magnetostrictive alloy, Terfenol-D (available from ETREMA Products, Inc, Ames, IA). While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

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• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
• Radiology & Medical Imaging (AREA)
• Micromachines (AREA)
• Measurement Of Length, Angles, Or The Like Using Electric Or Magnetic Means (AREA)
• Measuring Leads Or Probes (AREA)

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• 1998
  • 1998-05-20 US US09/082,095 patent/US6121611A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1999
  • 1999-05-17 EP EP99924287A patent/EP1080340B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1999-05-17 AT AT99924287T patent/ATE246340T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-05-17 WO PCT/US1999/010859 patent/WO1999060330A1/en not_active Ceased
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