U.S. patent number 5,354,985 [Application Number 08/072,286] was granted by the patent office on 1994-10-11 for near field scanning optical and force microscope including cantilever and optical waveguide.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Stanford University. Invention is credited to Calvin F. Quate.
United States Patent |
5,354,985 |
Quate |
October 11, 1994 |
Near field scanning optical and force microscope including
cantilever and optical waveguide
Abstract
A near field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) includes a
cantilever which is aligned generally parallel to the surface of a
sample. An optical waveguide extends along the cantilever to a tip
which protrudes downward from the cantilever. A small aperture at
the apex of the tip allows light radiation flowing through the
waveguide to be directed toward the sample. The cantilever is
vibrated, and variations in its resonant frequency are detected and
delivered to a feedback control system to maintain a constant
separation between the tip and the sample. The NSOM can also be
operated as an atomic force microscope in either a contact or
non-contact mode.
Inventors: |
Quate; Calvin F. (Stanford,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Stanford University (Palo Alto,
CA)
|
Family
ID: |
22106663 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/072,286 |
Filed: |
June 3, 1993 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
250/234; 850/32;
850/6; 977/863; 977/862; 977/873; 977/868 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01Q
60/22 (20130101); G01Q 60/06 (20130101); G01Q
60/38 (20130101); B82Y 35/00 (20130101); G01Q
20/04 (20130101); B82Y 20/00 (20130101); Y10S
977/862 (20130101); Y10S 977/868 (20130101); Y10S
977/873 (20130101); Y10S 977/863 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G12B
21/00 (20060101); G12B 21/06 (20060101); H01J
003/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;250/234,235,306,307,216
;385/12 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
R B. Marcus, et al., "Formation of silicon tips with <1 nm
radius", Appl. Phys. Lett. 54(3), Jan. 15, 1990, pp. 236-238. .
R. B. Marcus, et al., "The Oxidation of Shaped Silicon Surfaces",
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Solid-State Science and
Technology, Jun. 1982, pp. 1278-1282. .
S. Ghandhi, "VLSI Fabrication Principles-Silicon and Gallium
Arsenide", John Wiley & Sons, New York (1983), p. 373. .
J. Bruger et al., "Micromachined Silicon Tools For Nanometer-Scale
Science", NATO ARW on Manipulations of Atoms under High Fields and
Temperatures, Lyon, France, Jul. 6-10, 1992, 7 pgs. .
W. Stutius et al., "Silicon nitride films on silicon for optical
waveguides", Applied Optics, vol. 16, No. 12, Dec. 1977, pp.
3218-3222. .
Chen S. Tsai, "Integrated Acoustooptic Circuits and Applications",
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency
Control, vol. 39, No. 5, Sep. 1992, pp. 529-554. .
P. K. Tien, "Integrated optics and new wave phenomena in optical
waveguides", Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 49, No. 2, Apr. 1977,
pp. 361-420. .
E. Betzig et al., "Near-Field Optics: Microscopy, Spectroscopy, and
Surface Modification Beyond the Diffraction Limit", Science, vol.
257, Jul. 10, 1992, pp. 189-195. .
R. Toledo-Crow et al., "Near-field differential scanning optical
microscope with atomic force regulation", Appl. Phys. Lett. 60(24),
Jun. 15, 1992, pp. 2957-2959. .
E. Betzig et al., "Combined shear force and near-field scanning
optical microscopy", Appl. Phys. Lett. 60(20), May 18, 1992, pp.
2484-2486. .
Y. Martin et al., "Atomic force microscope-force mapping and
profiling on a sub 100-.ANG. scale", J. Appl. Phys. 61(10), May 15,
1987, pp. 4723-4729. .
Thomas R. Albrecht et al., "Microfabrication of integrated scanning
tunneling microscope", J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 8 (1), Jan./Feb.
1990, pp. 317-318. .
Daniel Rugar et al., "Atomic Force Microscopy", Physics Today, Oct.
1990, pp. 23-30. .
Rod C. Alferness et al., "Optical Waveguides-Theory and
Technology", Spring Series in Electronics and Photonics, vol. 23,
Heidelberg, 1990, pp. 53-89. .
N. F. van Hulst et al., "Near-field optical microscope using a
silicon-nitride probe", Appl. Phys. Lett. 62(5), Feb. 1, 1993, pp.
461-463..
|
Primary Examiner: Nelms; David C.
Assistant Examiner: Le; Que T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Skjerven, Morrill, MacPherson,
Franklin & Friel
Government Interests
This invention was made with Government support under contract
ECS-89-17552 awarded by the National Science Foundation and
contract N00014-91-J-1050 awarded by the Department of the Navy.
The Government has certain rights in this invention.
Claims
I claim:
1. A cantilever for use in a near field optical scanning
microscope, the cantilever comprising:
a flexible cantilever member having a free end and a fixed end,
a tip formed near the free end of the cantilever member, the tip
extending from the cantilever member in a direction substantially
perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the cantilever member;
an optical waveguide positioned along the cantilever member and
extending to an apex of the tip, an aperture for allowing light to
escape from the waveguide being formed near the apex of the
tip.
2. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the optical waveguide has a
first surface and a second surface, the first and second surfaces
of the waveguide being substantially planar and parallel to each
other.
3. The cantilever of claim 2 wherein the optical waveguide
comprises a channel region, the thickness of the waveguide in the
channel region being greater than the thickness of the waveguide in
regions outside the channel region.
4. The cantilever of claim 2 comprising a buffer layer adjacent the
second surface of the waveguide, the buffer layer having a ridge
region, the thickness of the buffer layer in the ridge region being
greater than the thickness of the buffer layer in regions outside
the ridge region.
5. The cantilever of claim 2 wherein the waveguide comprises a
means of focusing a beam of light at the tip.
6. The cantilever of claim 5 wherein the means of focusing
comprises a convex lens.
7. The cantilever of claim 5 wherein the means of focusing
comprises a concave lens.
8. The cantilever of claim 5 wherein the means of focusing
comprises a Fresnel zone plate.
9. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the tip is conical in
shape.
10. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the tip is tetrahedral in
shape.
11. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the cantilever comprises a
piezoresistor for detecting bending of the cantilever.
12. The cantilever of claim 11 wherein the piezoresistor comprises
doped silicon.
13. A near field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) comprising:
the cantilever of claim 1;
a scanner for scanning the cantilever with respect to a sample
positioned in the NSOM;
a light source;
a means for directing a beam of light from the light source into
the optical waveguide of the cantilever; and
a means of detecting the beam of light after it strikes the
sample.
14. The NSOM of claim 13 further comprising:
a detection means for detecting the deflection of the
cantilever;
a feedback control system connected to receive the output of the
detection means; and
a means for altering the distance between the cantilever and the
sample in response to an output from the feedback control
system.
15. The NSOM of claim 14 wherein the detection means comprises a
piezoresistor.
16. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the optical waveguide is
capable of carrying light in at least one of the transverse
electric (TE) mode and the transverse magnetic (TM) mode.
17. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the optical waveguide
comprises Si.sub.3 N.sub.4.
18. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the optical waveguide
comprises one of a channel waveguide and a film waveguide.
19. The cantilever of claim 1 further comprising optical energy
passing through the waveguide, the waveguide having a thickness
approximately equal to one wavelength of said optical energy.
20. The cantilever of claim 1 further comprising a capacitive plate
positioned adjacent said cantilever member.
21. The cantilever of claim 20 wherein a DC voltage applied to the
capacitive plate displaces the cantilever member from a neutral
position.
22. The cantilever of claim 20 wherein an AC voltage applied to the
capacitive plate excites a mechanical resonance of the cantilever
member.
23. The cantilever of claim 1 comprising a structure for focusing
light at the tip.
24. The cantilever of claim 1 further comprising a structure for
channeling light toward a centerline of the waveguide.
25. The cantilever of claim 1 wherein the tip is sharpened by an
oxidation sharpening process.
26. The cantilever of claim 11 wherein the piezoresistor is
U-shaped.
27. The cantilever of claim 26 wherein the cantilever member
comprises arms extending on opposite sides of an open space, the
optical waveguide being formed along a centerline of the cantilever
member.
28. The NSOM of claim 14 wherein the cantilever deflects in
response to an attractive force such as van der Waals force.
29. The NSOM of claim 14 further comprising a capacitive plate
positioned adjacent said cantilever.
30. The NSOM of claim 29 wherein a DC voltage applied to the
capacitive plate displaces the cantilever from a neutral
position.
31. The NSOM of claim 29 wherein an AC voltage applied to the
capacitive plate excites a mechanical resonance of the
cantilever.
32. The NSOM of claim 14 wherein the detection means comprises a
capacitive plate.
33. The NSOM of claim 32 wherein a DC voltage is applied to the
capacitive plate to displace the cantilever from a neutral
position.
34. The NSOM of claim 32 wherein an AC voltage applied to the
capacitive plate excites a mechanical resonance of the cantilever.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to near field scanning optical microscopes
(NSOMs) and, in particular, to an NSOM which can be used
alternatively as an atomic force microscope.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Near field scanning microscopy is a technique for analyzing objects
by means of a light beam which is directed through a very small
aperture. The width of the aperture is made substantially smaller
than the wavelength of the light (e.g., .lambda./40), and the
object to be studied is held in the near field of the aperture. The
near field begins at the surface of the material in which the
aperture is formed and extends outward a distance equal to about
one-half of the width of the aperture. During scanning it is very
important that the aperture be maintained at a constant distance
from the sample.
A known type of NSOM is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,462 to
Lewis et al. An aperture probe is made in the form of a tapered
metal-coated glass pipette. The pipette is formed from a glass tube
drawn down to a fine tip and then coated with a metallic layer. An
aperture is formed in the metallic layer at the tip. The
manufacture of such a probe is a relatively expensive, time
consuming process that does not lend itself to batch fabrication
techniques. These drawbacks are overcome in an NSOM according to
this invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an NSOM in accordance with this invention, an optical waveguide,
preferably planar, is formed on a cantilever which is positioned
generally parallel to the surface of the sample during scanning. A
tip is formed near the free end of the cantilever, and a small
aperture having a width substantially less than an optical
wavelength is formed at the apex of the tip. The cantilever
approaches the sample until the apex of the tip is located
extremely close to the sample surface. Optical radiation is
introduced into the waveguide, which directs it to the tip where
the radiation exits through the aperture.
In one mode of operation, the cantilever is vibrated from its fixed
end. Since the apex of the tip is located extremely close to the
sample surface, the resonant frequency of the cantilever is
determined in part by Van der Waals forces or other forces which
exist between the tip and the sample. In reality, it is the
gradient of the forces that changes the resonant frequency. As the
gap between the tip and the sample surface changes, these forces
vary, and this variation in turn alters the resonant frequency of
the cantilever.
The resonant frequency of the cantilever is detected, and a
feedback system adjusts the distance between the tip and the sample
so as to maintain the resonant frequency at a constant value. As a
result, the gap between the sample surface and the aperture at the
tip of the cantilever is held constant.
There are several ways of detecting the resonant frequency of the
cantilever. In a preferred embodiment, this is accomplished by
means of a piezoresistor which is embedded in the cantilever in
such a way that its resistance varies as the cantilever bends. The
resistance of the piezoresistor is detected, and this provides a
signal indicative of the resonant frequency of the cantilever.
Using this information, a feedback system of a kind well known in
the art is used to control the gap between the tip and the sample
surface.
In a second mode of operation, the NSOM may be operated as an
atomic force microscope. The cantilever tip may be brought into
contact with the surface of the sample, and the piezoresistor may
be used to detect the deflection of the cantilever. A known
feedback system responds to the output of the piezoresistor to
maintain a constant force between the cantilever tip and the
sample. Alternatively, the NSOM may be operated as an atomic force
microscope in the non-contact or attractive mode. The cantilever
tip is spaced a short distance from the sample, and the cantilever
is vibrated. Van der Waals or other forces between the tip and the
sample alter the resonant frequency of the cantilever as it is
scanned over the sample. These changes are sensed with the
piezoresistor and are used to generate a representation of the
topography of the sample.
The NSOM of this invention is thus a very flexible instrument which
can be operated in an optical mode or a variety of force modes. The
cantilever can be fabricated by micromachining silicon using batch
processing techniques.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a cantilever according to
this invention, viewed from underneath.
FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the cantilever taken
at section 1B--1B shown in FIG. 1A.
FIG. 1C illustrates a bottom plan view of the piezoresistor that is
included in the cantilever.
FIG. 1D illustrates a detailed cross-sectional view of the
cantilever tip.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of a near field optical
microscope including the cantilever of this invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the bridge circuit used to detect
changes in the resistance of the piezoresistor.
FIGS. 4A-4M illustrate a process of fabricating the cantilever
shown in FIGS. 1A-1D.
FIG. 5A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment
of the invention.
FIG. 5B illustrates a top plan view of the second embodiment.
FIG. 5C illustrates a top plan view of a concave lens for focusing
the light beam at the tip of the cantilever.
FIG. 5D illustrates a top plan view of a lens having a Fresnel zone
plate for focusing the light beam at the tip of the catilever.
FIGS. 6A-6N illustrate a process of fabricating the second
embodiment.
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate alternative designs of the waveguide in
transverse cross section.
FIG. 8 illustrates a bottom plan view of a third embodiment
according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1A illustrates a bottom perspective view of a preferred
embodiment according to this invention. A cantilever 10 is attached
to a base 11 and has a planar waveguide 12 running along its bottom
surface. Waveguide 12 extends to a conical tip 13 which is located
near the free end of cantilever 10. An incident light beam enters
waveguide 12 from the direction indicated by the arrow and is
transmitted through waveguide 12 to tip 13. The light beam may be
introduced into waveguide 12 by any one of several known
arrangements, such as a lens, a grating or a prism.
FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of cantilever 10, taken
through section 1B--1B shown in FIG. 1A. Cantilever 10 is
micromachined in silicon. Base 11 includes a silicon substrate 14
which is underlain by a silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) layer 15.
Cantilever 10 includes a layer 16 of intrinsic silicon as well as a
layer 17, which consists of silicon doped with arsenic or boron to
form a piezoresistor 18. (The thicknesses of layer 17 and the other
layers shown in the drawings are exaggerated for clarity.) A
SiO.sub.2 layer 19 is formed on the bottom and side surfaces of
piezoresistor 18 to serve as a buffer for waveguide 12. A metal
layer 20 includes terminals 21A and 21B (see FIG. 1C) which make
contact with piezoresistor 18. In this embodiment, SiO.sub.2 layer
19 is approximately 5000 .ANG. thick, but it may have a thickness
in the range 2750-8000 .ANG..
A conical member 22 protrudes downward near the free end of
cantilever 10. A silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) layer 23, which
constitutes waveguide 12, is formed on the lower surface of
SiO.sub.2 layer 19 and conical member 22. In this embodiment,
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23 is approximately 3000 .ANG. thick.
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23 is coated with an A1 layer 24, which is
in the range 100-1000 .ANG. thick but preferably approximately 500
.ANG. thick. Alternatively, A1 layer 24 may be omitted and the
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer may be bounded by air. The use of Si.sub.3
N.sub.4 films as waveguides is described in an article by W.
Stutius and W. Streifer, Applied Optics, Vol. 16, No. 12, December
1977, pp. 3218-3222, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The film used to carry the light waves has a thickness on the order
of 1 optical wavelength. The waveguides have both transverse
electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes with discrete
Eigenvalues. There are two basic types of waveguides: channel
waveguides and film waveguides. In channel waveguides, whose widths
are typically a few microns, the light propagation is confined
within the channel. Film waveguides are much wider--thousands of
wavelengths wide. The light path in the plane of the guide will
follow geometric optics. A further discussion of these matters in
found in P. K. Tien, "Integral Optics and New Wave Phenomena in
Optical Waveguides", Rev. Mod. Phys., Vol. 49, pp. 361-420, April
1977, which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1B also shows a capacitor plate 26, which is attached to base
11 and projects over cantilever 10. Capacitor plate 26 is connected
to a voltage source. (For the sake of clarity, capacitor plate 26
is not shown in FIG. 1A.) Capacitor plate 26 serves several
purposes: (i) with a DC voltage on the plate the electrostatic
force can displace the neutral position of cantilever 10; (ii) an
AC voltage on the plate can excite the mechanical resonance of
cantilever 10; and (iii) changes in the capacitance of capacitor
plate 26 can be used to monitor the deflection of cantilever
10.
FIG. 1C illustrates a bottom plan view of cantilever 10, showing in
particular piezoresistor 18, which is U-shaped and extends between
terminals 21A and 21B.
FIG. 1D illustrates a detailed cross-sectional view of tip 13,
taken along the longitudinal axis of cantilever 10. As shown,
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23 conforms to the shape of conical member
22. A portion of A1 layer 24 is removed at the apex of tip 13 to
form a small aperture 25, from which the light beam flowing through
waveguide 12 emerges. In accordance with known principles of NSOM
technology, the width (W) of aperture 25 should be substantially
less than the wavelength (.lambda.) of the light flowing through
waveguide 12.
A general schematic view of an NSOM 30 containing cantilever 10 is
illustrated in FIG. 2. Cantilever 10 is positioned over a sample
31, which is mounted on top of a piezoelectric scanner 32.
Piezoelectric scanner 32, which typically contains a piezoelectric
tube of the kind well known in the art, responds to an x,y scan
signal and a z feedback signal from a controller 33. The x,y scan
signal causes scanner 32 to transpose sample 31 horizontally in a
raster pattern, so as to permit the tip of cantilever 10 to scan
the sample. The z feedback signal regulates the vertical position
of sample 31 so as to maintain a constant separation between tip 13
(aperture 25) and the surface of sample 31.
Cantilever 10 extends from a head unit 34, which contains a
piezoelectric element 35 capable of vibrating cantilever 10 in a
vertical direction. Head unit 34 also contains a bridge circuit 36
(see FIG. 3) which detects the resistance of piezoresistor 18 and
delivers an output representative of the resonant frequency of
cantilever 10. Head unit 34 converts the output of bridge circuit
36 into a DC voltage which is compared with a reference voltage to
obtain an error signal. The error signal is sent to controller 33,
which uses it to generate the z feedback signal which is sent to
scanner 32.
In the operation of an NSOM, the aperture from which the light beam
emerges (in this case, aperture 25) is held extremely close to the
surface of the sample. This distance may be on the order of 100
.ANG., for example, and it is crucially important that the gap
between the aperture and the sample be held constant. How this is
done will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.
As the tip of cantilever 10 approaches very closely to the surface
of the sample, Van der Waals or other forces between atoms in the
region of aperture 25 and the surface of the sample come into play.
These forces tend to attract tip 13 to the sample. The strength of
these attractive forces depends on the separation between the apex
of tip 13 (aperture 25) and the surface of the sample. The gradient
of these forces in turn affects the resonant frequency of
cantilever 10.
Referring again to FIG. 2, piezoelectric unit 35 imposes a vertical
vibration on cantilever 10. Typically, this vibration is at a
frequency in the range of 10-500 kHz and has an amplitude of
approximately 5 .ANG..
FIG. 3 illustrates schematically bridge circuit 36, which may be
used to detect the resistance of piezoresistor 18. Assuming that
the resistance of piezoresistor 18 and each of the resistors in
bridge circuit 36 is equal to R, V.sub.1 equals V.sub.2 when the
cantilever is undeflected. When it is deflected so that the
resistance of piezoresistor becomes R+.DELTA.R, V.sub.1 -V.sub.2
equals: ##EQU1## Thus, as cantilever 10 vibrates, the voltage
difference V.sub.1 -V.sub.2 oscillates at the same frequency, and
this differential voltage is used to detect the frequency at which
cantilever 10 is vibrating.
As the gap between tip 13 and sample 31 varies, the resonant
frequency of cantilever 10 also varies due, as described above, to
variations in the attractive forces between tip 13 and sample 31.
Using the output of bridge circuit 36, head 34 converts the
vibrational frequency of cantilever 10 into a DC voltage and
compares it to a known reference voltage. The difference between
these voltages is sent to controller 33 as an error signal, and
using known techniques controller 33 sends an appropriate feedback
signal to scanner 32, changing the width of the gap between tip 13
and sample 31 so as to reduce the error signal to 0. Thus, as
cantilever 10 scans the surface of sample 31, encountering surface
features of various heights and dimensions, this feedback system
operates to maintain the gap between tip 13 and sample 31 at a
constant value.
The light beam which emerges from aperture 25 is reflected from
sample 31 and passes back through waveguide 12. A photodetector in
head 34 senses the reflected or scattered light from the sample and
uses this information to generate a representation of the surface
of sample 31 as it is scanned by cantilever 10. In an alternative
embodiment, a lens and photodetector could be positioned laterally
in relation to the tip to sense the light directly as it is
reflected or scattered from the sample. The light beam may be
transmitted through sample 31 and detected by a photodetector on
the other side of the sample. See, E. Betzig and J. K. Trautman,
"Near Field Optics: Microscopy, Spectroscopy, and Surface
Modification Beyond the Diffraction Limit", Science, Vol. 257, pp.
189-195, 10 Jul. 1992, which is incorporated herein by
reference.
Alternatively, NSOM 30 may be operated as a force microscope. Tip
13 is brought into contact with the surface of sample 31. As the
sample is scanned, the error signal generated by head 36, which
represents the deflection of cantilever 10 and therefore the force
between tip 13 and sample 31, is used to generate a topographical
representation of the sample. NSOM 30 may also be operated in the
attractive or non-contact mode. See, D. Rugar and P. Hansma,
"Atomic Force Microscopy", Physics Today, pp. 23-30, October 1990;
E. Betzig, P. L. Finn and J. S. Weiner, "Combined Shear Force and
Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy", Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol.
60, pp. 2484-2486, 18 May 1992; and R. Toledo-Crow, P. C. Yang, Y.
Chen and M. Vaez-Iravani, "Near-Field Differential Scanning Optical
Microscope with Atomic Force Regulation", Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol.
60, pp. 2975-2979, 15 Jun. 1992, all of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
A process of fabricating cantilever 10 will now be described, with
reference to FIGS. 4A-4M.
The starting material is a <100> type silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) wafer, as shown in FIG. 4A, in which 400 represents a bottom
silicon layer, 401 represents an SiO.sub.2 layer and 402 represents
a top silicon layer. The SOI wafer may be formed by oxidizing two
wafers, bonding them together, and lapping one of the two wafers to
the desired thickness of layer 402. Alternatively, oxygen may be
implanted in a silicon wafer and annealed so as to form a buried
oxide layer. An intrinsic silicon layer is then grown epitaxially
to the desired thickness. In one embodiment, SiO.sub.2 layer 401 is
4000 .ANG. thick and the top silicon layer 402 is 10 .mu.m
thick.
FIGS. 4B-4D illustrate the fabrication of conical member 22 in top
silicon layer 402. As shown in FIG. 4B, a masking material
consisting of an oxide layer 403 and a photoresist layer 404 is
patterned into a circle on the top surface of layer 402. The
masking material may alternatively contain a nitride, a refractory
metal or any other material that is not etched by the silicon
etchant. The thickness of the masking material depends on the
desired height of the tip and the etch selectivity between the
masking material and the silicon substrate. An oxide layer 2000
.ANG.thick is sufficient to make tips 10 .mu.m in height and a 1000
.ANG.layer of evaporated aluminum may be used to make tips 100
.mu.m in height.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, silicon layer 402 is etched in either a
plasma or wet etchant. Although most of the etching occurs in the
vertical direction, there is some finite undercutting of the mask.
By carefully monitoring the etching process through periodical
optical inspections, the etching can be stopped just prior to or
just after the masking material caps have fallen off. These two
possibilities are illustrated in FIG. 4C. In practice, the caps
usually fall off and come to rest against the tip. The cap is then
selectively removed and conical member 22 is exposed, as shown in
FIG. 4D.
A possible problem with the foregoing process is that the etching
conditions and durations are critical for the proper formation of
the conical member. Since etching rates and durations are two of
the least controllable fabrication parameters, a fabrication
process that relies heavily on them is usually very difficult to
reproduce from wafer to wafer or even across a single wafer. Plasma
etching is very non-uniform so that the cones in the center may
take longer to form than the cones at the perimeter of the wafer.
If wet etching is used, the etch time becomes more critical since
the caps are washed away in the etchant and the cones are quickly
attacked. It has been found that after the initial fabrication
process the apexes of the cones typically have radii of curvature
of approximately 500 .ANG..
In order to make the cones sharper and at the same time increase
their uniformity, they can be sharpened using a low temperature
thermal oxidation process, as illustrated in FIGS. 4E and 4F. FIG.
4E shows conical member 22 after it has been thermally oxidized at
950.degree. C. to form an oxide layer 2000 .ANG.to 1 .mu.m in
thickness. When the oxide is selectively removed in an HF acid
solution, the conical member 22 is sharper and has a higher aspect
ratio than it had prior to oxidation. The resulting form of conical
member 22 is shown in FIG. 4F. This process may be repeated several
times to attain the required degree of sharpness. The mechanism of
oxidation sharpening is described in detail in R. B. Marcus and T.
T. Sheng, "The Oxidation of Shaped Silicon Surfaces", J.
Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 129, No. 6, pp. 1278-1282, June 1982, which
is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 4G shows the sharpened conical member 22 protruding from the
remains of top silicon layer 402. Masking layer 405 is an
oxide-photoresist layer which is formed at the same time as layers
403 and 404 are formed on the top of silicon layer 402 (FIG. 4B).
The masking layers on the top and bottom of the substrate are
aligned with each other.
After conical member 22 is formed, boron is implanted in layer 402
at a dose of 5.times.10.sup.14 cm.sup.-2 and an energy of 80 keV to
form layer 17 (piezoresistor 18). This results in a sheet
resistance of 270 .OMEGA.. Piezoresistor 18 is formed in a U-shape
by masking the top surface of the substrate by a known
photolithographic technique. A metal mask may be used. The results
of this process are illustrated in FIG. 4H.
Next, an oxide layer is formed to protect the silicon from
subsequent processing. A layer 300 .ANG.thick may be formed by wet
oxidation at 900.degree. C. for 10 minutes. A layer of photoresist
is applied, and the shape of the cantilever is defined by standard
photolithography techniques. During this and subsequent
photolithography steps a thick photoresist layer is used to protect
the tip. The silicon is then etched in a plasma etcher until oxide
layer 401 stops the etch. After the photoresist is stripped, the
oxide layer is removed and a new, thicker (e.g. 5000 .ANG.) thermal
oxide layer 19 is grown. The result is illustrated in FIG. 4I. This
last oxidation step causes the boron to diffuse into the
cantilever. Alternatively, the boron implantation could be done
after the oxidation.
Another photolithography step is used to open contact holes 406 in
the oxide layer 19. An aluminum layer 407 (containing 1% silicon)
is sputtered, with the results shown in FIG. 4J. In one embodiment,
layer 407 is 1 .mu.m thick. Aluminum layer 407 is patterned into
metal lines by a photolithography process. A forming gas anneal at
400.degree. C. for 45 minutes anneals the contacts.
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23 is then deposited on oxide layer 19 by
means of a low stress LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor
deposition) process. In this embodiment, Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23
is about 3000 .ANG.thick. A1 layer 24, preferably about 500
.ANG.thick, is then deposited on Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23. As
described above, Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 23 forms a planar
waveguide, bounded by oxide layer 19 and A1 layer 24. Si.sub.3
N.sub.4 conforms to the shape of conical member 22 and, with A1
layer 24 on the outside, forms tip 13. Optical aperture 25 is
opened at the apex of tip 13 by a focused ion beam (FIB) process.
An imaging mode of the FIB generator is used to identify the
location of the apex, and the FIB generator is then turned up to
form optical aperture 25. The results of these processing steps are
illustrated in FIG. 4K.
Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 4L, the silicon is etched from the
back of the substrate to free the cantilever. This etch is
performed with an ethylenediamine/pyrocatechol (EDP)/water
solution. However, since the EDP solution attacks aluminum, the top
of the cantilever is protected with a thick layer 408 of polyimide.
A layer at least 10 .mu.m thick is needed to insure that the
cantilever and the tip are completely protected. EDP etches silicon
preferentially along the <100> crystallographic plane but not
the <111> plane. Therefore the etch defines a precise
rectangular opening on the bottom, which is defined by four
<110> lines. The EDP will stop etching when it reaches the
bottom of oxide layer 401. Oxide layer 401 is then removed in a
buffered oxide etch solution, and polyimide layer 408 is stripped
in an oxygen plasma. The freed cantilever is illustrated in FIG.
4M.
Advantageously, a number of cantilevers are fabricated at the same
time on a silicon wafer. If so, the EDP etch may also be to open
grooves in the backside of the wafer, which are then used to dice
the wafer.
FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate cross-sectional and top plan views,
respectively, of an alternative cantilever in accordance with this
invention. Cantilever 50 includes a silicon nitride (Si.sub.3
N.sub.4) layer 51 which is formed into a pyramidal tip 52. Layer 51
is anodically bonded to a pyrex glass substrate 53. The top surface
of cantilever 50 is covered with a Cr/Au layer 54. A light beam is
introduced into the cantilever by means of a lens 55. A convex
lens-shaped section 56A is formed as a thicker region of layer 51.
Since the velocity of the light in a waveguide varies inversely
with the thickness of the waveguide, section 56A focuses the
optical energy at the tip 52.
Cantilever 50 does not contain a piezoresistor. Therefore, the
deflection of the cantilever must be detected by a different
arrangement. As shown in FIG. 5A, a laser diode 57 directs a laser
beam against a mirrored surface on the backside of cantilever 50,
where it is reflected to a position sensitive photodetector (PSPD)
58. As the cantilever bends, the laser beam strikes a different
position on PSPD 58, and thus PSPD 58 delivers an output which is
analogous to the output of piezoresistor 18 in the prior
embodiment. This technique of sensing the deflection of the
cantilever is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,833 to Amer et al.,
which is incorporated herein by reference.
Light enters Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 51 through lens 55 and is
directed by lens-shaped section 56A to tip 54. It emerges through a
small aperture at the apex of tip 54 and strikes the surface of a
sample (not shown). The remaining components of the NSOM may be
similar to those described above and illustrated in FIG. 2.
The fabrication of cantilever 50 begins with an Si substrate 60,
shown in FIG. 6A, which is preferably a portion of a wafer.
SiO.sub.2 layers 61 and 62 are formed on the top and bottom surface
of Si substrate 60. As shown in FIG. 6B, a square opening is
defined and etched in layer 61. Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, an
anisotropic Si etchant in KOH solution is applied to the substrate.
This etchant attacks the <100> plane of Si layer 60, creating
a four-sided pyramidal depression in the top surface of layer 60,
the sides of which coincide with four intersecting <111>
planes. A top view of this depression is illustrated in FIG.
6D.
SiO.sub.2 layers 61 and 62 are then removed, and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4
layers 51 and 64 are formed by chemical vapor deposition on the top
and bottom surfaces of substrate 60. Layers 51 and 64 are
preferably about 5000 .ANG. thick. The substrate is then annealed
in steam at 1100.degree. C. to prepare it for anodic bonding. The
result is illustrated in FIG. 6E.
Next, a dry plasma etcher is used to remove layer 64, and layer 51
is pattern-etched in the form of the cantilever. FIGS. 6F and 6G
show cross-sectional and top views, respectively, of the cantilever
after this step is finished.
FIG. 6H shows a pyrex glass substrate 53. A Cr layer 66 is formed
on the bottom of substrate 53 and patterned and etched to make bond
inhibiting areas on the pyrex substrate. A saw cut 63 is then made
partially through substrate 53 at the edge of layer 66, as shown in
FIG. 6I.
Pyrex substrate 53 is then anodically bonded to substrate 60 by
placing substrate 60 on a 475.degree. C. hot plate and applying a
positive potential to pyrex substrate 53. This process is
illustrated in FIG. 6J.
After the bonding has occurred, additional saw cuts 67 and 68 are
made in pyrex substrate 53. Saw cut 67 extends to saw cut 63
previously made in substrate 53, and saw cut 68 extends into Si
substrate 60. The structure at the conclusion of this process is
shown in FIG. 6K.
Substrate 60 is then broken at saw cuts 67 and 68. Since Cr layer
66 does not bond to Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 51, the structure shown
in FIG. 6L results. Si substrate 60 is then etched in a KOH
etchant, leaving the bottom surface of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 51
exposed, as shown in FIG. 6M. The top of the cantilever is then
coated with Cr/Au layer 54, resulting in the structure shown in
FIG. 6N.
Convex lens-shaped section 56A may be formed by masking and etching
Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 layer 51 to the shape illustrated in FIG. 5B. The
area which is to constitute lens-shaped section 56A is masked, and
the remainder of layer 51 is etched. Alternatively, a thinner,
concave lens-shaped section could be formed by reducing the
thickness of layer 51. This could be done by masking the remainder
of layer 51, and etching a concave-shaped section 56B of the layer,
as illustrated in FIG. 5C. As noted above, the velocity of light in
a planar waveguide is inversely proportional to the thickness of
the waveguides. Therefore, the concave side of the lens causes the
light rays to converge at the tip of the cantilever.
FIG. 5D illustrates still another technique of focusing the light
at the tip, using a thinned, Fresnel zone plate 59, having a number
of steps 59A. The steps 59A are positioned at radii equal to one
wavelength, so that positive interference occurs as the waves leave
Fresnel zone plate 59. Fresnel zone plate 59 may advantageously be
formed by ion-milling, as described in Tsai, "Integrated
Acoustooptic Circuits and Applications", IEEE Transactions on
Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol. 39, No. 5,
September 1992, which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
Numerous alternative structures known in the art of optical
waveguides are available for focusing the light at the tip.
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate transverse cross-sectional views of
alternative waveguides which may be used in the cantilever. In both
of these embodiments the light beam is channeled towards the center
of the waveguide. In FIG. 7A, 70 represents a silicon substrate, 71
represents an SiO.sub.2 layer, 72 represents an SiON layer (which
is the waveguide), and 73 represents an SiO.sub.2 layer. In a
preferred embodiment, SiO.sub.2 layer 71 is approximately 2 .mu.m
thick and SiON SiO.sub.2 layer 72 is approximately 0.5 .mu.m thick.
Layer 73 has a ridge 74 formed in it, which in this embodiment is
2-20 .mu.m wide. SiO.sub.2 layer 73 is about 0.1 .mu.m thick
generally and ridge 74 is about 0.5 .mu.m thick. The added
thickness of SiO.sub.2 layer 73 in the region of ridge 74, by the
principle of optical confinement, keeps the light beam in SiON
layer 72 in the area under ridge 74.
In FIG. 7B, substrate 70 is the same as the substrate shown in FIG.
7A. However, SiO.sub.2 layer 75 is formed with a channel 76. Above
layer 75 is a SiON layer 77 and a SiO.sub.2 layer 78. In the
preferred embodiment, channel 76 is 2-20 .mu.m wide, and 0.2-0.3
.mu.m deep. SiO.sub.2 layer 75 is about 2 .mu.m thick, SiON layer
77 is about 0.2 .mu.m thick (in areas away from channel 76), and
SiO.sub.2 layer 78 is about 1 .mu.m thick. Light travelling in SiON
layer 77 tends to remain concentrated in the region of channel
76.
The cantilever-waveguide combination of this invention may be
formed in a wide variety of configurations. Another alternative is
illustrated in FIG. 8. Cantilever 80 is somewhat similar to
cantilever 10 (as shown in FIG. 1C), except that the central
portion of the cantilever inside the piezoresistor has been
removed, leaving an open space 81. A waveguide 82 is formed along
the center of cantilever 80 so that it bridges the open central
area. Waveguide 82 may be a layer of nitride with a rectangular
cross section and a layer of metal deposited on its exposed
surfaces.
What has been described is a family of cantilever-waveguide
configurations which may be fabricated by batch processes. Many
members of the family may be used in an instrument which operates
alternatively in an NSOM mode or an AFM mode. While in the
embodiments shown above, a piezoresistor and a laser beam have been
used to detect the deflection of the cantilever, other types of
deflection detectors known in the art may be substituted for the
piezoresistor. These other deflection detectors are, for example,
based on electron tunneling, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re 33,387;
optical interferometry techniques; and capacitive detectors. The
cantilever and waveguide may likewise be formed in a wide variety
of configurations. The broad principles of this invention are
intended to include all such alternative embodiments.
* * * * *