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Review of Scientific Instruments / Volume 82 / Issue 11 / ARTICLES / Microscopy and Imaging

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 113707 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3663069 (5 pages)

Fabrication of sharp tungsten-coated tip for atomic force microscopy by ion-beam sputter deposition

Yukinori Kinoshita, Yoshitaka Naitoh, Yan Jun Li, and Yasuhiro Sugawara

Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

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(Received 13 July 2011; accepted 29 October 2011; published online 23 November 2011)

Tungsten (W) is significantly suitable as a tip material for atomic force microscopy (AFM) because its high mechanical stiffness enables the stable detection of tip-sample interaction forces. We have developed W sputter-coating equipment to compensate the drawbacks of conventional Si cantilever tips used in AFM measurements. By employing an ion gun commonly used for sputter cleaning of a cantilever tip, the equipment is capable of depositing conductive W films in the preparation chamber of a general ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)-AFM system without the need for an additional chamber or transfer system. This enables W coating of a cantilever tip immediately after sputter cleaning of the tip apex and just before the use in AFM observations. The W film consists of grain structures, which prevent tip dulling and provide sharpness (<3 nm in radius of curvature at the apex) comparable to that of the original Si tip apex. We demonstrate that in non-contact (NC)-AFM measurement, a W-coated Si tip can clearly resolve the atomic structures of a Ge(001) surface without any artifacts, indicating that, as a force sensor, the fabricated W-coated Si tip is superior to a bare Si tip.

© 2011 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. DESIGN OF INSTRUMENTATION
  3. CHARACTERIZATION
    1. Resistivity of W film
    2. TEM observation of W-coated tip
    3. NC-AFM observation

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

atomic force microscopy, beams (structures), cantilevers, crystal microstructure, ion beam assisted deposition, metallic thin films, sputter deposition, sputtered coatings, tungsten

PACS

  • 81.15.Cd

    Deposition by sputtering

  • 81.15.Jj

    Ion and electron beam-assisted deposition; ion plating

  • 68.37.Ps

    Atomic force microscopy (AFM)

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3663069

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0034-6748 (print)  
1089-7623 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
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