Abstract:
A simple method for integrating a circuit onto a probe with a handle, a cantilever and a tip is provided. By fabricating a probe whose surface has recessed patterns of the desirable profile, a circuit can be formed on one part of the handle out over the cantilever and back onto a different part of the handle without employing a circuit lithography step. The circuit material constituting the circuit is deposited orthogonally to the probe surface with a line-of-sight technique.

Description:
REFERENCES CITED 
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       Other Publications 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to the microfabrication of a circuit path on probes for use in probe-based instruments, and more particularly, to methods to integrate a simple circuit path from a probe handle and over the cantilever and back. It also relates to applications where sensing or initiating a mechanical response in the probe is made via the probe&#39;s integrated circuit. 
         [0003]    For the sake of convenience, the current description focuses on probes that may be realized for a particular embodiment of probe-based instruments, the atomic force microscope (AFM). Probe-based instruments include such instruments as AFMs, 3D molecular force probe instruments, high-resolution profilometers (including mechanical stylus profilometers), surface modification instruments, chemical or biological sensing probes, and micro-actuated devices. The probes described herein may be realized for such other probe-based instruments. 
         [0004]    An AFM is an instrument used to produce images of surface topography (and/or other sample characteristics) based on information obtained from scanning (e.g., rastering) a probe relative to the surface of the sample. Probes consist of a handle by which the probe is fastened to the frame of the AFM, a cantilever extending from the handle and a sharp tip at the end of the cantilever. Topographical and/or other features of the surface are detected by sensing changes in the probe&#39;s mechanical response to surface features and using feedback to return the system to a reference state. By scanning the probe relative to the sample, a “map” of the sample topography or other sample characteristics may be obtained. 
         [0005]    Changes in the probe&#39;s mechanical response are typically detected by an optical lever arrangement whereby a light beam is directed onto the cantilever in the same reference frame as the optical lever. The beam reflected from the cantilever illuminates a position sensitive detector (PSD). As the probe&#39;s mechanical response changes, a change in the output from the PSD is induced. These changes in the PSD signal are typically used to trigger a change in the vertical position of the base of the probe relative to the sample (referred to herein as a change in the Z position, where Z is generally orthogonal to the XY plane defined by the sample), in order to maintain a constant pre-set value for one or more of the probe&#39;s mechanical responses. It is this feedback that is typically used to generate an AFM image. 
         [0006]    AFMs can be operated in a number of different sample characterization modes, including contact mode where the tip of the probe is in constant contact with the sample surface, and AC modes where the tip makes no contact or only intermittent contact with the surface. AC modes are typically achieved by mechanically coupling the probe to a piezo-electric element which shakes the probe at a desired frequency, commonly the resonant frequency of the cantilever. These two modes define two mechanical responses of the probe that can be used in the feedback loop which allow the user to set a probe-based operational parameter for system feedback. 
         [0007]    In contact mode the interaction between the probe and the sample surface induces a discernable effect on a probe-based operational parameter, such as the cantilever deflection. In AC mode the effects of interest include the cantilever oscillation amplitude, the phase of the cantilever oscillation relative to the signal driving the oscillation and the frequency of the cantilever oscillation. All of these probe-based operational parameters are detectable by a PSD and the resultant PSD signal is used as a feedback control signal for the Z actuator to maintain the designated probe-based operational parameter constant. 
         [0008]    The feedback control signal also provides a measurement of the sample characteristic of interest. For example, when the designated parameter in an AC mode is oscillation amplitude, the feedback signal may be used to maintain the amplitude of cantilever oscillation constant to measure changes in the height of the sample surface or other sample characteristics. 
         [0009]    Probes are micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) microfabricated by using semiconductor fabrication techniques as this provides a way to batch produce probes with consistent cantilever and tip geometries necessary for use with AFMs today. These techniques include, but are not limited to: thin film deposition, photolithography with optical masks, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) with plasma, anisotropic wet etching of silicon, and wafer-to-wafer bonding. Silicon and silicon nitride are the two primary semiconductor materials from which AFM probes are fabricated; silicon probes tend to have higher resonant frequencies and higher force constants than silicon nitride probes. 
         [0010]    Relatively little development has gone into the advancement of probe technology as compared to other components of AFMs. Many thin films that have been deposited on standard probes that have increased performance or added some functionality, but the basic AFM probe technology remained. Probes have become a bottleneck in the overall advancement of AFM technology. 
         [0011]    The life sciences have become an important application for the AFM. Frequently this requires a fluid environment. Using AC modes in such an environment poses challenges because the piezo-electric element, commonly used as the oscillator, can short out in fluid. To overcome this challenge, the holder of the probe, and therefore the cantilever and the tip, together with the fluid have all been shaken, with the piezo-electric element isolated from the fluid. However, image quality and stability have greatly suffered with this configuration because the cantilever&#39;s true resonance is hidden in a myriad of resonances coupled to the cantilever via the fluid. AC mode in fluid would perform better if only the cantilever were oscillating and not the holder of the probe and the fluid. 
         [0012]    More generally the current technology suffers from the fact that the piezo-electric element, commonly used as the oscillator, operates mechanically. Since the piezo-electric element is coupled to the AFM its operation causes unwanted vibrations that translate to noise in the images produced by the AFM. As probes get smaller and faster in order to decrease imaging time, this will become an even bigger issue. AC mode would perform better, and with a lower noise floor, if the probe could be actuated without being coupled to a mechanical actuator. 
         [0013]    Efforts have long been made to improve upon the optical lever arrangement whereby a light beam is directed onto the cantilever and reflected from the cantilever to illuminate a PSD. The optical lever arrangement has proved to be a useful technology, but it has disadvantages. The user must realign the laser on the probe or realign the PSD, or both every time a probe is replaced. Furthermore, the optical lever arrangement requires a complicated apparatus consisting of a light source (typically a laser), a PSD, lenses and electronics which complicates the AFM and limits its usefulness in some applications. AFMs could be greatly improved if the probe&#39;s mechanical response could be detected by the probe itself without the use of the optical lever. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    An improved AFM would result from a probe with a circuit that starts on the handle and then extends out over the cantilever and back to the handle. The AC mode noise floor of the AFM can be lowered by removing the piezo-electric mechanical actuator and utilizing probe actuation via thermal mechanical forces or magnetic forces (e.g. Lorentz forces) across the loop circuit of such a probe. Both actuation techniques would require electric current directed through the loop circuit to oscillate the probe. The former technique would do so with a heat transfer bimorph affect and the latter would require a static magnetic field oriented in the optimal direction with respect to the end of the cantilever. Both of these actuation techniques greatly improve AC mode fluid imaging because they dispense with the coupled mechanical actuator in the prior art which causes unwanted resonances in the fluid and probe holder. Also, it may be possible to develop a smaller and easy-to-use AFM without the constraining optical lever arrangement by using the probe&#39;s simple loop circuit as a strain gauge to determine its mechanical response. 
         [0015]    It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method for fabricating an AFM probe with an integrated circuit whereby a line-of-sight deposited circuit material on a desirable probe surface defines the circuit. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIGS. 2A to 2B  are cross-sectional views illustrating the microfabrication of an integrated tip and cantilever molded on a conventional silicon substrate. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2C  is a plan view of the silicon substrate showing a two-piece handle-mount, with one handle-mount connecting to one leg of the cantilever and the other handle-mount connecting to the other leg. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2D  is a cross-sectional view showing the formed tip and cantilever after anodic bonding of the handle-mounts to a glass block, referred to as the handle. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2E  is a cross-sectional view of the integrated handle, cantilever, and tip after selectively etching the silicon substrate and depositing a reflective material on the back opposite the tip. 
           [0020]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are perspective views illustrating the layers that are bonded together to form a probe with topography desirable for depositing a circuit material. 
           [0021]      FIGS. 5A to 5D  are successive zoom perspective views from the tip-side of a probe with desirable topography prior to depositing the circuit material. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6A  is a tip-side perspective view of the circuit material being deposited orthogonal to the plane of the probe handle and cantilever. 
           [0023]      FIG. 6B  is a cross-sectional view of the probe handle centered between the two handle-mounts after the circuit material has been deposited. 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view illustrating the probe with integrated circuit embodying the invention described herein. 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention disclosed herein. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    The invention described herein includes several steps starting with forming a tip mold on a silicon substrate. A process could be applied to the substrate to sharpen the tip mold if desired. A suitable thin film is deposited on the substrate and formed into a two-legged cantilever, tip and handle-mount, with the handle-mount in two separate pieces, one piece connecting to one leg of the cantilever and the other piece to the other leg. These formed edges should have vertical (or near-vertical) sidewalls. A handle is attached to the two handle-mount pieces on the substrate. The substrate is selectively removed until the tip and cantilever are exposed. A line-of-sight deposition of a circuit material, whose thickness is less than the thickness of the thin film, is applied to the tip-side. The result is a circuit that starts on one of the handle pieces, extends out over the cantilever, and then back to the other handle piece. 
         [0027]      FIGS. 2A to 2E  illustrate a typical state-of-the-art probe microfabrication process modified to incorporate the invention described herein.  FIG. 2A  illustrates a (100) silicon substrate  14  with an inverted tip  18  formed into it. The process starts with growing thermal oxide thin films  10  and  12  (or depositing any other suitable film) on both sides of the silicon substrate  14 . The thin film  10  is also used as an etch mask for selectively etching the inverted tip into the silicon substrate  14  by forming an opening in the thin film via standard semiconductor lithographic processes. The inverted tip  18  is anisotropically wet etched into the silicon substrate  14  bounded by four (111) crystallographic planes terminating at a point. Though optional and not illustrated, these planes may be made more convex via a tip sharpening process involving growing a thermal oxide layer according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,827, Casting Sharpened Microminiature Tips. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2B  illustrates a thin film deposition on the silicon substrate  14  after removal of the thermal oxide thin film  10  shown in  FIG. 2A . In one embodiment of the invention the thin film is low stress silicon nitride deposited via chemical vapor deposition, however any suitable thin film can be used. The thin film is formed via standard semiconductor lithographic processes into a cantilever  20 , tip  22  and two-piece handle-mount  26  and  28  (shown in  FIG. 2C ), which are aligned with the tip mold  18  shown in  FIG. 2A . 
         [0029]      FIG. 2C  is a plan view of the thin film deposition and its lithographic formation of  FIG. 2B  showing the two-piece handle mount  26  and  28  and the cantilever  20  and tip  22  on the silicon substrate  14 . The lithographic processes form two separate handle-mount pieces  26  and  28 , the space between them being designated by  30 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 2D  illustrates a borosilicate glass block  40 , which serves as the handle of the probe, attached to the handle-mounts  26  and  28  on the silicon substrate  14 . For convenience, the handle-mount shown is  26 , but the cross-sectional view would be the same were it viewed from the other side, in which case the handle mount would be  28 . The glass block  40  is anodically bonded to the handle-mounts  26  and  28  on the silicon substrate  14 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 2E  illustrates the probe with topography desirable for depositing a circuit material with handle  40 , cantilever  20 , and tip  22 . The silicon substrate  14  has been selectively etched away to reveal the cantilever  20 , tip  22  and the handle mounts  26  and  28  to which the handle  40  is attached. This is followed by the deposition of gold film  42  (or any other suitable reflective material) on the back of the cantilever (the side opposite the tip  22 ) to enhance the optical lever signal. 
         [0032]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate a perspective view of the thin film probe layer, including the handle  40 , cantilever  20 , and tip  22 , and borosilicate glass block  40  bonded together to form a probe with topography desirable for depositing a circuit material. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 5A to 5D  show successive zooms of a perspective view of the cantilever  20 , tip  22 , handle-mounts  26  and  28  and handle  40  as an aid to understanding the results of the microfabrication process to this point. 
         [0034]      FIG. 6A  depicts the circuit material  50  being orthogonally deposited on the tip-side surfaces of the handle-mounts  26  and  28 , handle  40  and cantilever  20  (not shown) in a line-of-sight fashion. In one embodiment of the invention, the circuit material is gold and the deposition technique is evaporation, but other circuit materials and deposition techniques known to those skilled in the art could be used.  FIG. 6B  illustrates that the thickness of the circuit material  70  deposited on the handle  40  between the handle-mounts  26  and  28  of the probe must be less than the wall height of these mounts. If not, the circuit material  70  landing on the handle  40  may be thick enough to make contact with the circuit material  66  and  68  landing on the handle mounts  26  and  28 , respectively, thereby shorting the circuit. 
         [0035]      FIG. 7  illustrates an AFM probe whose circuit path,  66  to  60  to  68 , or the reverse, starts on one part of the handle, extends out over the cantilever, and terminates back on a different part of the handle. The probe thus incorporates a circuit with two terminals formed on the handle for inputs or outputs to the cantilever. No direct lithography step was necessary to form this circuit. It was formed with only one process step, an orthogonal line-of-sight deposition step, on a probe with the desirable surface topography. 
         [0036]    Alternatively, the borosilicate glass block  40  can also have a recess formed into its surface topography such that the two thin film handle-mounts  26  and  28  overhang the sidewalls of the recessed area. This will create a sidewall profile that will substantially preclude further prevent the deposited circuit material from shorting across the handle. 
         [0037]      FIG. 8A  illustrates the alternative embodiment, a probe handle that has a different cross-sectional profile, a profile which substantially precludes the circuit material from shorting across the handle. The glass block  40  may have a recess  44  formed into its surface topography via standard semiconductor lithography processes, including the use of a wet etchant (e.g. H 2 O/HNO 3 /HF mixture) or even a reactive ion etch. The recessed pattern is such that the thin film handle-mounts  26  and  28  overhang the sidewalls of the recess  44  in the glass block  40  after the bonding step.  FIG. 8B  shows the cross-section of the completed probe handle after the circuit material  66 ,  68 ,  70  has been deposited with the line-of-sight technique.