Patent Publication Number: US-10308500-B2

Title: Multilayer MEMS cantilevers

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371 and claims the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/IB 2016/053013 having an international filing date of 23 May 2016, which designated the United States, which PCT application claimed the benefit of International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization Application No. PCT/IB2015/053769 filed 22 May 2015, the disclosure of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application generally relates to a cantilever or membrane, and more particularly a multilayer ATM cantilever or membrane. The present application also concerns a method for producing an elongated beam of the cantilever or membrane as well as a method for producing a cantilever or membrane. 
     DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND ART 
     High Bandwidth AFM Cantilevers for Operation in Air or Vacuum 
     In comparison with other AFM (atomic force microscopy) imaging modes, increasing the imaging speed of AFM in dynamic modes in air or vacuum has proven especially difficult. These dynamic modes include non-contact AFM, intermittent contact AFM (tapping mode), and pulsed force or peak force modes. The reason for this difficulty is the slow dynamic response of the cantilever oscillation amplitude. When subject to a change in boundary condition, the transient response of the cantilever decays with a time constant related to its resonance frequency, f 0 , and quality factor, Q. This time constant directly impacts the imaging bandwidth, B, of the cantilever, which is a measure of how quickly the AFM cantilever can track surface topography changes. For example, in tapping mode, in the case of a linear tip sample interaction and a cantilever driven at resonance, B takes the numerical value B=πf 0 /Q. 
     The row marked “Low f 0 , high Q” of  FIG. 1  shows on the left a schematic of a driven oscillating cantilever with a steady state oscillation amplitude subject to a sudden increase in tip-sample distance. After some time, the cantilever reaches a new steady-state oscillation amplitude according to the new boundary conditions. The response time is linked to the cantilever resonance frequency and Q-factor, which are represented in the amplitude versus frequency drawing. Immediately to the right, we see experimental data of the deflection response time of a typical tapping-mode-in-air AFM cantilever (RTESPA, Bruker AFM Probes) subject to a sudden step increase in the drive amplitude. The corresponding resonance frequency and quality factor were measured for this cantilever with the thermal tune method. The numerical values, f 0 =347 kHz and Q=500, yield a response time of order one millisecond, and a corresponding imaging bandwidth of order 1 kHz. Finally, on the right, we see an SEM image of the cantilever showing its dimensions. 
     Thus far, efforts to increase the cantilever bandwidth have focused on increasing the resonance frequency by reducing the cantilever dimensions (so called ‘small cantilevers’). This approach, shown in the row marked “High f 0 , high Q” in  FIG. 1 , has by and large been the enabling technology for state of the art high-speed AFM, producing good-quality, high-speed images even on difficult biological samples. 
     The higher resonance frequency reduces the response time, even with largely unchanged Q, as shown schematically on the left and experimentally on the right of the second row in  FIG. 1  using a commercially-available small cantilever (FastScan A, Bruker AFM Probes). Cantilevers with widths approaching the optical diffraction limit and lengths of a few micrometres are now usable in specialized high-speed AFMs. 
     The fastest AFM imaging in dynamic modes has been, however, uniformly performed in a liquid environment, where the Q of the cantilever is decreased substantially by the large amount of fluid damping in liquid (in fluid, most AFM cantilevers have Q≈3). However, reaching equivalent speed performance using dynamic modes in air or vacuum, where the fluid damping is substantially lower, has yet to be shown. 
     The work of the inventors leading to this invention has focused on an alternate cantilever construction approach to enable cantilevers with inherently low Q. Intrinsically, Q is related to the damping of the resonator. Sources of damping include fluid (air or water), mechanical clamping losses, and internal friction—which includes both surface effects and volume effects such as thermoelastic damping or viscoelastic damping. Each of these sources contribute to the overall Q of the system, which can be expressed as a combination of the Q, associated with each individual damping source: 
     
       
         
           
             
               1 
               Q 
             
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                     Q 
                     i 
                   
                 
               
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                   1 
                   
                     Q 
                     medium 
                   
                 
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                   1 
                   
                     Q 
                     material 
                   
                 
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                   1 
                   
                     Q 
                     support 
                   
                 
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                 … 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     Optimizing the cantilever bandwidth through Q reduction therefore translates in practice to increasing the damping mechanisms present in the system. 
     AFM cantilevers that are commercially available are made out of materials with low intrinsic damping, such as crystalline silicon or silicon nitride. The Intrinsic damping coefficient (or loss coefficient) of a material η i  is defined as the ratio of the imaginary component of the dynamic modulus E″ to the real component of the dynamic modulus E′, 
               η   i     =         E   ″       E   ′       .             FIG. 2  shows some potential cantilever materials classified by their intrinsic damping coefficient on the horizontal axis, and the square root of the ratio of the elastic modulus E to the density ρ, √(E/ρ), on the vertical axis. This factor E/ρ is also known as the stiffness to weight ratio. Here, the square root in this ratio √(E/ρ) comes from the expression for the fundamental resonance frequency of a cantilever beam
 
               f   0     =       0.56     l   2       ⁢       I   A       ⁢       E   ρ               
factored into geometrical and materials properties terms. In the expression, l is the cantilever length, I is the second moment of area and A is the cross-sectional area of the cantilever beam. Three different classes of materials are given: crystalline or ceramic materials, metals, and polymers or elastomers. The dashed lines show constant values of the product η i √(E/ρ), which a measure of the bandwidth ratio f 0 /Q expressed in terms of materials properties. Higher values trend towards the upper left corner of the plot. By this metric, the polymers and elastomers as a class of material are roughly 3 orders of magnitude better than the crystals and ceramics.
 
     For cantilevers made of materials with very low damping coefficient, such as silicon or silicon nitride, the primary damping source is thus the air damping, which leads to cantilever with Q≈500 in air as shown in the row marked “Low f 0 , high Q” of  FIG. 1 . 
     If the cantilever is made out of a material that exhibits large intrinsic damping, the material damping dominates the cantilever response. The total number of oscillation cycles needed to reach steady state in this case is decreased, and so the response time is decreased, even though the frequency of oscillation may be unchanged. 
     Of the various classes of materials that can be used to microfabricate cantilevers, polymers in particular can exhibit large intrinsic damping through viscoelastic effects, making them ideal materials for this application. Shown in the row “Low f 0 , low Q” in  FIG. 1  is a cantilever designed to maintain similar resonance frequency and spring constant as a standard tapping mode in air cantilever, but with a drastically lower Q. The cantilever is made out of a photosensitive polymer (SU-8), which has previously been demonstrated as a promising low-cost, low spring constant cantilever microfabrication material for both AFM imaging and cantilever-based biosensing. The experimental data show that the cantilever, which has a Q=21, has a similar response to a change in boundary condition to the commercial small cantilever (row marked “High f 0 , high Q” of  FIG. 1 ), even though the size and resonance frequency of the SU-8 cantilever is comparable to a standard cantilever (and is useable in standard AFM systems). 
     These two approaches, high resonance frequency and low quality factor, can be combined by reducing the dimensions of the cantilever and making a small cantilever out of a viscoelastic material. The row marked “High f 0 , low Q” in  FIG. 1  illustrates this combination. The resulting cantilever, which has a resonance frequency similar to the commercial small cantilever and a Q similar to the large SU-8 cantilever, has a response time that appears almost instantaneous on the timescale shown. 
     The inventors performed high-speed AFM imaging using these small SU-8 cantilevers in a customized AFM for high-speed operation. The scratched mica surface we imaged has sharp step edges, which are a difficult feature for topography feedback. 
       FIG. 3 a    shows images of the same imaging area at line scan rates from 43 Hz up to 166 Hz. The highest scan rate corresponds to scan speeds in excess of 1 image/s and a linear tip speed over the surface of 1953 μm/s. The height images (left of  FIG. 3 a   ) appear identical at all scan rates, apart from more pixelation at higher speed due to system data-rate limits. Notable in the amplitude error images (right of  FIG. 3 a   ) is the absence of imaging artefacts such as overshoot, parachuting or ringing. Taken together, these images show good tracking behaviour even at the highest scan rates. 
     Faster AFM imaging also enables the ability to take a high-resolution overview image and digitally investigate regions at higher magnification. This task presents a challenge to AFM systems because at large scan areas, the surface speed remains high even for low line scan rates. As a demonstration of how the SU-8 cantilevers enable this feature, large areas of a Celgard sample were imaged. 
     Celgard is a standard sample for assessing the speed performance of AFM imaging due to the challenge of tracking the freely-suspended fibrils in the material. On a standard MultiMode AFM system using large SU-8 cantilevers, we found that we could image Celgard with acceptable quality at line scan rates of 10 Hz, corresponding to a tip velocity of 100 μm/s. At this scan rate, the large silicon cantilever tracked very poorly and was unable to resolve the fibrils at all. On an unmodified commercial high-speed AFM system (FastScan, Bruker Nano Surfaces) we used our small SU-8 cantilevers to scan a 30×30 μm area of Celgard at a line scan rate of 4 Hz at 8192×3200 pixels, corresponding to a surface speed of 261 μm/s ( FIG. 3 b    upper left image). 
     In comparison, the highest previously reported surface scan speeds we were able to find regarding Celgard using standard small AFM cantilevers was 56 μm/s. The upper right part of  FIG. 3 b    presents a 2.4 μm digital zoom of the overall image corresponding to 656×256 pixels, showing the individual fibrils of the Celgard are still well resolved. The amplitude error and phase images in  FIG. 3 b    show further evidence that the AFM tracks the surface well. 
     Electronic Readout of AFM Cantilevers 
     The optical beam detection technique is the most common method to detect the deflection of AFM cantilevers. It is easily implemented and very sensitive, however it requires a number of components, such as lasers, objectives, and photodetectors, which require both space and the ability to align them with the cantilever. Furthermore, optical diffraction sets the minimum width of the cantilever to a practical lower limit of about 2 μm. For these reasons, there has been much interest in the development of cantilevers with integrated deflection sensing elements (so-called self-sensing cantilevers). Cantilevers using resistive or piezoresistive, piezoelectric, thermal and capacitive detection techniques have been developed. Thus far, the performance of the current self-sensing cantilevers still lags behind the optical beam detection performance, and so these cantilevers are generally only used in situations where having optical beam detection is not possible. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention addresses the inconveniences and problems of the background art and concerns a cantilever or membrane, an Atomic force microscope, molecule detector, biosensor or multi-cantilever array including at least one such cantilever or membrane. The present application also concerns a method for producing an elongated beam of the cantilever or membrane as well as a method for producing a cantilever or membrane. 
     Other advantageous features can be found in the dependent claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The above object, features and other advantages of the present invention will be best understood from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a Schematic of the transient response of a cantilever and its relation to the resonance frequency and quality factor, a standard AFM cantilever (top row) has a low resonance frequency and high Q; experimentally, this leads to a long amplitude response time; small cantilevers designed for high-speed imaging have thus far focused on increasing the resonance frequency only (second row), which decreases the response time but requires special instrumentation for use of the cantilevers; alternately, lowering the Q of the cantilever by using a cantilever material with inherent dampening characteristics can yield a similar benefit without the need to reduce the cantilever dimensions (3rd row); a high resonance frequency, low Q cantilever optimized for short response time can be created by reducing the dimensions of the large, low Q cantilever (bottom row); 
         FIG. 2  shows potential cantilever materials, classified according to the square root of the stiffness to weight ratio √(E/ρ) and the intrinsic loss coefficient η i ; 
         FIG. 3  shows HS-AFM AM-mode imaging in air using small SU-8 cantilevers where a) shows imaging of sharp step edges in sanded mica, the maximum scan rate achieves over 1 frame per second while maintaining good surface tracking; and b) shows a high-resolution overview imaging of a Celgard sample at a tip surface speed of 261 μm/s, 6 times faster than previous reports, the overview image is 8192×3200 pixels and the digital zoom-ins are 656×256 pixels; 
         FIGS. 4 a  and 4 b    show a cantilever structure according to an aspect of the present invention, where A and B show a schematic of the cantilever architecture for optical deflection readout, the most critical aspect is the multilaminar nature of a thick core separating outer layers with higher elastic modulus, the tip may be integrated in the outer layer or adhered to that layer, an optically-reflective layer may be included on an outer or inner layer (or multiple layers); where C to E show three possible architectures of the cantilever for self-sensing deflection detection; the strain sensing element is integrated onto an outer layer, the strain sensor can either be a strain-sensing material deposited over a portion of the cantilever (C) or a full layer of a strain-sensing material (D); the strain-sensing element is preferably located as far as possible from the neutral axis, and can either be shielded from the outer surface of the cantilever such that it is inherently protected from the outside environment (C) or exposed to the environment when shielding is unnecessary (E); 
         FIG. 5  presents the influence of the elastic modulus of the core layer on the mechanical properties and resonance behaviour of the cantilever; 
         FIGS. 6 a    and  6   b:  illustrate, according to another aspect of the invention, a basic process flow for fabrication of the cantilever with core separating outer layers with higher elastic modulus; 
         FIG. 7 a    is an Image of a fabricated cantilever; 
         FIG. 7 b    presents a Frequency spectrum of several fabricated cantilevers, where the upper numbers refer to the nominal planar dimensions of the cantilever; 
         FIG. 7 c    is an image of a 1×1 μm, 200 nm depth calibration grating taken with a fabricated cantilever; 
         FIG. 7 d    presents a measurement of the tapping-mode imaging bandwidth for a cantilever with f 0 =392 kHz, k=24 N/m and Q=73, the bandwidth defined at the −3 dB point corresponds to 11 kHz; 
         FIGS. 8 a  and 8 b    present an overview of a cantilever fabrication process incorporating a batch-fabricated silicon nitride sharp tip according to another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 9 a  and 9 b    shows an approach towards integration of self-sensing elements into the cantilever fabrication process according to yet another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 10 a  and 10 b    illustrate a fabrication process towards integration of self-sensing elements onto an external surface of the cantilever according to another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 11 a  and 11 b    show a fabrication process towards integration of self-sensing elements onto both upper and lower internal surfaces of the cantilever according to yet another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    illustrate a fabrication process towards integration of a sharp silicon tip into a self-sensing cantilever according to further aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 13 a  and 13 b    illustrate a fabrication process towards a self-sensing cantilever with of piezoelectric self-sensing elements according to yet another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 14 a  and 14 b    illustrate a fabrication process for a membrane-based multilayer device according to yet another aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14 c    illustrates a plurality of different membranes having different forms, such as a doubly-clamped beam, a crossed beam, or a full membrane; 
         FIG. 15  shows an alternate configuration for a composite sandwich cantilever, a layer of high elastic modulus forms the core of the cantilever, with layers of low elastic modulus and high loss coefficient surrounding this core; 
         FIGS. 16 a  and 16 b    show a fabrication process for tip integration into the alternate cantilever configuration of  FIG. 15 ; 
         FIGS. 17   a,    17   b,    17   c  and  17   d  show a process for fabrication a cantilever using a layer-by-layer process according to yet another aspect of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 18  illustrates a process for cantilever fabrication using a layer-by-layer process with integrated tip according to further another aspect of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure may be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawing figures, which form a part of this disclosure. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the specific conditions or parameters described and/or shown herein, and that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting of the claimed disclosure. 
     Motivating Factors 
     The concept of material damping for high bandwidth AFM probes is demonstrated with a prototype SU-8 cantilevers. This probe architecture, however, has some limitations:
         SU-8 and other polymers are poor materials for making sharp and wear-resistant tips. Although reasonably sharp tips can be made via molding, the tips suffer from very high wear rates and blunt quickly. In contrast, according to the present invention, the tip can be made out of much harder materials such as silicon or silicon nitride, two materials that are used commercially to make good quality tips for AFM imaging.   SU-8 and other polymers are poor materials for the chip body (to which the cantilever is fixed). Resonances of the chip structure near or below the cantilever resonance lead to loss of drive efficiency and an unclean drive signal when using a piezo to excite the cantilever. A polymer chip body has resonances at lower frequency than a silicon chip body of the same dimensions. Given the industry has adopted a set of standard chip body dimensions, compensating the poor performance of a polymer chip body by changing the dimensions is not easily achievable.       

     Furthermore, for self-sensing cantilevers, the limitations of current self-sensing architectures are noted as well as the use of a relatively soft material such as a polymer for a self-sensing cantilever:
         The signal of the self-sensing cantilever is directly related to the distance the sensor is located away from the neutral axis of the cantilever. For cantilevers made from hard materials, however, increasing the thickness quickly leads to an unusably stiff cantilever.   A common requirement in self-sensing cantilevers is that the cantilever is able to operate in liquid. In traditional cantilever designs, this often means that a thick protective coating over the strain sensing element is applied, which leads to difficulty with tip integration and negatively impacts the sensitivity through a shift in the neutral axis.   Adding a strain sensor onto a cantilever can perturb the behaviour of the cantilever, which locally can experience a reduction in strain around the sensing element; thus, making a self-sensing cantilever out of a soft material and adding on a stiff strain-sensing element can reduce the expected signal based on the geometry of the designed cantilever.       

     Major Features and Aspects of the Cantilever Architecture According to the Present Invention 
     In order to both optimize the ratio f 0 /Q and to overcome the issues described above, one aspect of the present invention concerns a composite, multilayered cantilever structure that includes layers of high loss coefficient (but low elastic modulus and low density) with layers of high elastic modulus (but high density and low loss coefficient). Here, high loss coefficient refers to values above 10 −2 , high elastic modulus refers to values above 10 GPa, and high density refers to values about 1500 kg/m 3 . Suitable methods for measuring elastic modulus of thin layers include methods such as nanoindentation (see for example reference 26), bulge testing (see for example reference 27), or microbeam deflection (see for example reference 28). Measurement of intrinsic loss coefficient may be performed using dynamic mechanical analysis or nanoindentation (see for example reference 29), or using a reference beam coated with the material of interest, as in ASTM E756 and also applied to microscale systems (see for example reference 30). This architecture of the present invention has a number of benefits to the issues described above, including:
         In air and vacuum, the quality factor of the cantilever will be substantially determined by the material properties of the layer(s) with high loss modulus.   The layer(s) of high elastic modulus provide a suitable support for tip and/or strain-sensor integration. In certain cases, these layers could be themselves a multi-lamellar structure.       

     In one embodiment of the invention, the cantilever is made up of a three layer structure, with an inner core made up of a layer with high loss modulus sandwiched between two layers of high elastic modulus. This embodiment has a number of advantages compared with cantilevers made of a uniform material:
         The structure is overall substantially symmetric, which reduces thermally-induced or residual stress-induced bending of the cantilever. However, if an asymmetry is desirable, the structure may be also made intentionally asymmetric.   Strain-sensing elements can be integrated within the multilayer structure, inherently protected from the outside environment.   The distance of the strain sensor from the neutral axis can be increased relative to a uniform cantilever, without increasing the spring constant of the cantilever.   The cantilever performance metric f 0   2 /k may be increased. For equivalent cantilever spring constant, the cantilever can have a higher resonance frequency than a cantilever made out of a uniform material while maintaining the same spring constant. This result is achieved by reducing the mass of the cantilever in the core, where the elastic modulus has less influence on the bending stiffness of the cantilever.       

     Part A of  FIG. 4 a    shows a schematic of an exemplary multilayer cantilever design intended for optical deflection readout and the major features of this design. The cantilever  1  maintains a core  3  substantially made up of a material with high loss coefficient, sandwiched between two layers  5 ,  7  of high elastic modulus. The core  3  and the two outer layers  5 ,  7  form a beam  8  of the cantilever. A tip  9  is integrated into the lower layer  5  (in this depicted embodiment, the tip is made via moulding the hard material in a pit with a sharp point). 
     A thin metal layer  11  can be deposited on the outside of the upper cantilever surface  15  to provide an optically reflective surface. 
     The cantilever further includes body  16  for supporting the beam  8 . 
     An alternative embodiment, shown in part B of  FIG. 4   a,  comprises the trilayer structure with the optically-reflective coating on the interior surface  17  of the upper layer  11 , and a sharp tip  19  made of a different hard material (such as silicon) to that of layers  5 ,  7  and that is attached to the outer surface of the lower layer  5 . A second metal coating can be applied to the top or bottom side of layer  5 . Any such combination can be performed with either a moulded tip or an attached tip. 
       FIG. 4 b    shows three different embodiments for integrating self-sensing elements into the trilayer cantilever. A self-sensing cantilever needs to maximize the strain at the base of the cantilever, without making the cantilever undesirably stiff. 
     Part C of  FIG. 4 b    shows a self-sensing cantilever where the strain sensor  21  is deposited over only a small portion of the cantilever. This strain sensor  21  could be metal traces, a piezoresistive material like doped crystalline silicon or polysilicon or a nanogranular metal or a 2D material like graphene or molybdenum disulfide, and could be deposited as a full or partial layer and subsequently patterned via lithography, or deposited via a direct-write technique like electron beam-induced deposition. This sensor  21  can be deposited onto an inner surface  33  of the upper layer  7  such that it is located within the multilayer structure and hence inherently protected from the outside environment. 
     Part D of  FIG. 4 b    shows a full-layer strain sensor, as would be implemented for piezoelectric materials like for example aluminum nitride or lead zirconate titanate (PZT). In this implementation, the strain sensor layer  21  is itself sandwiched between two electrically conducting contact layers  23 ,  25 , and an upper layer  7  that provides a substrate on which the layer  7  attaches to a chip body  16  and also shields the upper metal contact layer  23  from the outside environment. This multi-layer structure comprising or consisting of layers  23  and  7  forms the upper layer with high elastic modulus  31  of the trilayer structure. The lower layer of high elastic modulus  5  may be a simple single layer of silicon nitride or other material, in which a tip  9  is integrated or attached to. Access to bonding pads  37  could be made by etching at appropriate points through the multilayer structure, stopping on the conducting layers. 
     Part E of  FIG. 4 b    shows a self-sensing cantilever similar to that of parts C or D of  FIG. 4   b,  except the strain sensor is located on the outer surface  41  of the multilayer structure. For use in environments where the strain sensor and contact traces do not need to be shielded, this can provide an additional route to fabrication and the benefit that the strain sensor  21  is located further from the neutral axis of the cantilever. The strain sensor  21  in this implementation could be made of the same material as described above in part C of  FIG. 4 b    or with a piezoelectric layer as shown in part D of  FIG. 4   b.    
     The present invention thus relates to a cantilever comprising the body  16  and the elongated beam  8  attached to the body  16 . The elongated beam  8  includes a first layer  3  comprising a first material, a second layer  5  comprising a second material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material, and a third layer  7  comprising a third material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material. The first layer  3  is sandwiched between the second layer  5  and the third layer  7 . 
     The first material can have an elastic modulus inferior to that of the second and third material; and/or the first material can have a loss coefficient superior to that of the second and third material; and/or the first material can have a density inferior to that of the second and third material. 
     The first material may have an elastic modulus superior to that of the second and third material; and/or the first material may have a loss coefficient inferior to that of the second and third material. 
     The first material can be a viscoelastic material. 
     The second layer  5  and the third layer  7  may have a smaller layer thickness that that of the first layer  3 . 
     The cantilever may include the optically reflective layer  11  for determining movement of the cantilever and the optically reflective layer  11  can be deposited on the first layer or is sandwiched between the first layer  3  and the second layer  7 . The optically reflective layer  11  can be deposited on an inner or outer surface of the first or second layer. 
     The beam  8  can include the sensing tip  9 ,  19  formed by the second layer  5 , or formed of a material different to that of the second  5  and third  7  layers. The beam  8  can also include the sensing element  21  to detect the deflection of the beam  8 . The sensing tip can be integrated into or be integral with the second layer  5 . 
     The sensing element  21  can extends substantially along a full length of the beam  8 . The sensing element  21  may alternatively extends partially along a length of the beam  8 . 
     The cantilever can include a first  23  and a second  25  metal layer sandwiching the sensing element  21  to measure a deflection of the beam  8 . 
     The first metal layer  23  can be located between the sensing element  21  and the third layer  7 , and the second metal layer  25  can be located between the sensing element  21  and the first layer  3 . 
     The cantilever can further include a first metal layer  23  contacting a first portion of the sensing element  21  and a second metal layer  25  contacting a second portion of the sensing element  21  to measure a deflection of the beam  8 . 
     The sensing element  21  and the first  23  and second  25  metal layers can be attached to the third layer  7 . 
     The sensing element  21  and the first  23  and second  25  metal layers may be attached to an inner surface  33  of the third layer  7 . 
     The sensing element  21  and the first  23  and second  25  metal layers may alternatively be attached to the second layer  5 . The sensing element  21  and the first  23 ) and second  25  metal layers are attached to an outer surface  41  of the second layer  5 . 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for producing the elongated beam  8  of the cantilever comprises the steps of providing the first layer  3  comprising a first material, providing the second layer  5  comprising a second material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material, providing a third layer  7  comprising the third material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material, and enclosing the first layer  3  between the second layer  5  and the third layer  7 . 
     Targeted Application of the Invention and Extension to Other Domains 
     Atomic force microscopy is one exemplary targeted application area of this cantilever structure according to the present invention, specifically imaging using dynamic modes (such as tapping mode or peak force tapping), however the architecture may find wide use in other application areas. For example, in cantilever-based or membrane-based detection of small molecules. Using the self-sensing architecture, one can create a multi-cantilever array structure or membrane structure, such as those used in biosensing applications (see for example reference 31), without the need for a cumbersome multi-cantilever optical readout system. Another technological extension is to introduce microfluidic channels within the polymer layer  3 . This can, for example, enable cantilever-based liquid or cell dispensing, biomolecule detection or other types of applications. 
     The first layer  3  may thus include a microfluidic channel. 
     According to another aspect, the present invention relates to an atomic force microscope, a molecule detector, a biosensor, or multi-cantilever array including at least one such cantilever. 
     Influence of Core Layer Mechanical Properties 
     Materials suitable for use as the core layer in the exemplary cantilevers described above may span a wide range of elastic modulus. For example, Polydimethylsiloxane PDMS has a lower elastic modulus of order 10 6  Pa, and SU-8 can have an elastic modulus of nearly 10 10  Pa. Incorporating these different polymers into the central layer  3  of the cantilever can have significant influence on the overall mechanical properties of the cantilever. 
       FIG. 5  shows the variation in expected spring constant and resonance frequency for a 100 μm long cantilever with 500 nm silicon nitride outer layers and a 5 μm thickness polymer layer with a varying elastic modulus, based on a 2D FEM simulation (Comsol). As the elastic modulus is varied over 8 orders of magnitude, the spring constant varies by 4 orders of magnitude and the resonance frequency by 2 orders of magnitude ( FIG. 5( a ) ). In addition, the resonance mode shape changes from a shearing motion at low elastic modulus, to a complex hybrid motion at a mid-range elastic modulus to a bending motion similar to a uniform beam at high elastic modulus. 
     This variation lends a large capacity for tuning cantilever mechanical properties to achieve a desired behaviour. In particular, a low elastic modulus polymer would be suitable for softer, optically-detected cantilevers (the stress on the outer layers remains low in the shearing mode). A higher elastic modulus would be desirable for a self-sensing cantilever or a stiffer, optically-detected cantilever. 
     Cantilever Fabrication and Performance Evaluation 
     The outline of a process flow that has been successfully implemented according to another aspect of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 6 a    and  6   b.  This process is only one approach towards achieving the desired end structure. This process is designed for cantilevers to be used with optical deflection detection, hence there is no integration of a strain sensing element into the structure. 
     It is noted that one novel aspect of this process flow is the use of two separate wafers that are bonded together using the polymer layer. Other processes have used two wafers along with wafer bonding (including polymer wafer bonding) in the fabrication process, however one important difference with the process of the present invention is that elements of both wafers form an integral component of the cantilever. In this manner, the structure of the hard outer layers, including processing of the tip structure and processing of the strain-sensing element, in the case of a self-sensing cantilever, could proceed independently on standard wafers before being combined into a multilayer sandwich structure. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 a    and  6   b,  in step A, layers  47   c  and  47   d  are grown or deposited or doped on the top and bottom surface of a silicon wafers  43   b.  The same step is performed on second similar wafer. Preferred materials for layers  47   c  and  47   d  are silicon dioxide or silicon nitride; other options could be doped silicon, polysilicon, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, titanium dioxide, a metal like tungsten, etc. The range of thickness for these layers could be from 10 nm up to about 2 μm. The range of elastic modulus of this layer could be from 10 GPa up to 600 GPa. Suitable deposition processes include CVD, MBE, sputtering, thermal oxidation, ALD, etc. The current process uses low-stress silicon nitride with thickness of 100 nm, deposited by LPCVD. The elastic modulus of this material is approximately 250 GPa. 
     In step B, by way of layer  45 , bond together wafers  43   a  and  43   b.  The thickness of layer  45  ranges from about 100 nm up to 20 μm. Layer  45  is ideally a polymer with elastic modulus in the range from about 0.5 MPa up to about 10 GPa, and intrinsic loss coefficient greater than 10 −2 . Layer  45  could be deposited using processes like CVD, spin-coating, spray coating, screen printing, or transfer printing, etc. The deposition could be onto layer  47   a,  layer  47   c,  or partially on layer  47   a  and partially on layer  47   b.  Suitable polymers include parylene, polyimide, PDMS, SU-8, BCB, polyurethane, and many others. The current process uses parylene-C deposited by CVD with 2 μm thickness deposited onto both layers  47   a  and  47   c.  The elastic modulus of parylene-C is about 2.8 GPa and density about 1289 kg/m 3 . An adhesion promoter may be necessary to enhance adhesion of the polymer layer. The current process uses parylene adhesion promoter A-174. The bonding is performed by bringing wafers  43   a  and  43   b  together under a combination of applied pressure and temperature, along with possible surface pre-treatments, dependent upon the particular polymer used. The current process uses a 20 second pre-treatment of 200 W oxygen plasma, followed by bonding under vacuum environment, with a tool pressure of 100 kPa at a temperature of 280° C for 30 minutes. 
     In step C, layers  47   b  and  47   d  are removed or partially removed through lithography and etching. The etch could be a dry or wet etch depending on the composition of the layers. The current process uses a dry etch and photolithography. 
     In step D, silicon wafers  43   a  and  43   b  are etched using KOH or similar anisotropic wet etchant like TMAH in order to release a multilayered membrane  48 . The lower wafer  43   b  is etched such that part of the wafer forms a remaining support structure  42  and part of the wafer forms the chip body  44 . An important aspect of this etch is that the chip body forms an inclined surface to provide access for optical deflection detection onto the cantielver. The current process uses KOH, which forms an inclined surface at 54.7°. Alternatively, the wafers  43   a  and  43   b  could be etched using a dry etch process like DRIE, which could be tuned to achieve an inclined surface or through a technique like greyscale lithography. 
     In step E the shape of the cantilever  8  is defined from the membrane formed in the previous step via lithography and etching through layers  47   a,    45  and  47   c.  This etch could be a wet etch or dry etch and may need an additional hard mask, and/or a mechanical support layer or etch stop layer. In the current process, a 2 μm thick aluminum mechanical support and etch stop layer is evaporated onto the bottom side of the membrane. The current process uses either a photoresist mask, or a photoresist mask in combination with a 300 nm evaporated aluminum hard mask. The layers are etched in a sequential dry etch process, first etching the hard mask, using a photoresist mask, and subsequently layers  47   a,    45  and  47   c.    
     In step F, a reflective coating layer  49  is deposited onto the cantilever. This layer could be either evaporated or sputtered, and be composed of any number of reflective materials, ideally being either aluminum or chrome/gold or titanium/gold. In the current process, 5 nm of Cr and 50 nm of Au are evaporated onto the cantilever. 
     According to another aspect, the present invention thus relates to a method for producing a cantilever comprising the steps of: 
     providing a first wafer  43   a  including a first layer  47   a  deposited on a first external surface of the wafer and a second layer  47   b  deposited on a second external surface of the wafer, 
     providing a second wafer  43   b  including a first layer  47   c  deposited on a first external surface of the wafer and a second layer  47   d  deposited on a second external surface of the wafer, 
     forming a first structure by depositing a third layer  45  comprising a material having an elastic modulus inferior to that of the first  47   a  and second layer  47   b  on the first layer  47   a  of the first wafer  43   a,    
     forming a second structure by depositing a third layer  45  comprising a material having an elastic modulus inferior to that of the first  47   c  and second layer  47   d  on the first layer  47   c  of the second wafer  43   b,    
     wafer bonding the first and second structures together by combining the third layer  45  of the first structure with the third layer  45  of the second structure, 
     partially removing the exposed second layer  47   b  on a first external surface of the bonded structure to expose the first wafer material  43   a  and create a first etch mask window, and partially removing the exposed second layer  47   d  on a second external surface of the bonded structure to expose the second wafer material  43   b  and create a second etch mask window, 
     etching the exposed first wafer material  43   a  and the exposed second wafer material  43   b  to remove part of the first and second wafer material and expose a beam  48  including the combined third layers  45  sandwiched between the first layers  47   a,    47   c,    
     depositing an etch stop and support layer on the second wafer material  43   b  and the first layer  47   c  of the second wafer  43   b,  etching through the beam  48  to divide the bean  48  in two parts, and removing the etch stop and support layer. 
     A reflective coating may be deposited on the second wafer material  43   b  and the first layer  47   c  of the second wafer  43   b.    
     The step of providing a second wafer  43   b  including a first layer  47   c  deposited on a first external surface of the wafer and a second layer  47   d  deposited on a second external surface of the wafer further includes a step of depositing a metal layer  51  to measure cantilever deflection on the first layer  47   c  to partially cover the first layer  47   c,  and a step of depositing a metal bonding pad  53  on the metal layer  51  to partially cover the metal layer  51 , wherein the third layer  45  comprising a viscoelastic material is deposited on the first layer  47   c,  the metal bonding pad  53  and the metal layer  51 . 
     The first layer  47   a  and the third layer ( 45 ) of the beam ( 48 ) can be etched to expose the metal bonding pad  53 . 
     During the step of wafer bonding, the third layer  45  flows to adapt to the extra topography presented by the metal bonding pad  53  and the metal layer  51 . 
     Using the above process flow, several trilayer MEMS cantilevers have been fabricated and tested.  FIG. 7( a )  shows a SEM image of one cantilever. These cantilevers have 100 nm silicon nitride layers  47 , and a 4 μm parylene layer  45 , made of two, 2 μm parylene layers  45  bonded together. Of note, the cantilever shows no residual stress bending. Two-layer nitride-parylene cantilevers were also fabricated, which showed substantial residual stress bending. 
       FIG. 7( b )  shows measurement of the power spectrum of the thermal deflections for several trilayer cantilevers. This measurement characterises the principle mechanical properties of the cantilever, namely the resonance frequency, spring constant and quality factor. Two features are evident based on this measurement: first, the Q factors are significantly lower than standard AFM cantilevers, and vary little across a wide range of spring constants and resonance frequencies, suggesting that the viscoelastic properties of the cantilever are indeed dominant. Second, the resonance frequency of the cantilever with spring constant 38 N/m is 600 kHz, which is double the resonance frequency of order 300 kHz one would expect for a silicon cantilever with spring constant around 40 N/m (e.g. Bruker model MPP-1123-10). 
       FIG. 7( c )  shows an AFM image of a calibration grating taken with a trilayer cantilever, using an unmodified commercial Bruker MultiMode VIII AFM system.  FIG. 7( d )  shows the tapping mode imaging bandwidth of a cantilever with f 0 =394 kHz, k=24 N/m and Q=73. The imaging bandwidth, defined as the −3 dB frequency of the tracking amplitude, corresponds to 11 kHz. In comparison, a silicon cantilever with f 0 ≈300 kHz has a bandwidth of order 1 kHz. 
     Tip Integration 
     Integrating a sharp tip onto the end of the cantilever may be accomplished in a number of different ways. For cantilevers without a batch-fabricated sharp tip, such as those presented above, a tip may be grown (e.g. via electron beam-induced deposition) or glued onto the cantilever. 
     A more desirable solution is to integrate a tip in the batch-fabrication process. The simplest process for accomplishing this tip integration is to mould a tip in one of the hard layers; this process is an industry standard for creating silicon nitride tips. An overview of the process is shown below in  FIGS. 8 a    and  8   b.  A detailed process run card is given later herein in Appendix A. 
     Step A in  FIG. 8 a    is performed for layers  53   c  and  53   d  on wafer  51   b  as is described in step A from  FIG. 6   a.    
     For  FIG. 8  step B, on silicon wafer  51   a,  etch mask layers  55   a  and  55   b  are grown or deposited on the top and bottom surface of the wafer. The current process uses 500 nm of thermally grown silicon dioxide. Layer  55   b  is partially removed using lithography and etching. The current process uses photolithography and dry etching. Wafer  51   a,  masked by layers  55   a  and  55   b,  is then etched in order to create a tip-like indentation  57 . The current process uses KOH as an anisotropic etchant to form a pyramidal structure where the resulting planes of the silicon surface in the indentation are &lt;111&gt; planes. 
     As one alternative, the tip-like indent could be etched using an isotropic wet or dry etch to form a hemispherical-like indentation. 
     In  FIG. 8  step C, layers  55   a  and  55   b  are removed (using a dry or wet etch, for example, using BOE as in the current process). Optionally, thermally grow oxide layer  59   a  and  59   b,  which serves to reduce the radius of the bottom of the indent  59 . In the current process, layers  59   a  and  59   b  are grown using steam at 950° C. Layers  53   a  and  53   b  are then added, ideally using the same material and processes as for wafer  51   b  from step A. 
     In  FIG. 8  step D, layer  61  is used to bond together wafers  51   a  and  51   b  as described in step B of  FIG. 6 . 
     In  FIG. 8  step E, layers  53   b,    53   d  and  59   a  are removed or partially removed through lithography and etching. The etch could be a dry or wet etch depending on the composition of the layers. The current process uses a dry etch and photolithography. 
       FIG. 8  step F is performed according to the description of step D of  FIG. 6 . Layer  59   b  must be removed, as part of the wet etch process, or through an additional wet or dry etch step. 
       FIG. 8  step G is performed according to the description of step E of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  step H is performed according to the description of step F of  FIG. 6 . 
     Self-Sensing Integration 
     As discussed earlier, three advantages of this architecture for self-sensing integration are that the processing of the tip and self-sensing elements may be performed on separate wafers, that the self-sensing elements may be inherently insulated from the exterior environment, and that the thickness of the cantilever is larger than that of a standard silicon or silicon nitride cantilever for similar spring constant, thus increasing the strain at the sensor (for cantilevers that behave in a bending motion as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     A basic process overview towards integrating thin metal self-sensing elements is shown in  FIGS. 9 a    and  9   b.  It adopts the basic process flow shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     In  FIG. 9 a    step A, layers  53   c  and  53   d  are grown or deposited or doped on wafer  51   b  as is described in step A of  FIG. 6 . Subsequently, strain sensor element  67  and electrical connections  69  and  71  are deposited (or deposited and patterned). Only one set of sensor element and electrical connections is shown, but actual devices may include a plurality of sensors and connections, in locations both on the cantilever and off of the cantilever. In the current process, the sensor element is made from evaporated Cr/Au with thickness 5/50 nm and the electrical connections are made from evaporated Cr/Au with thickness 20/200 nm. Other potential sensor elements include any kind of piezoresistive material, for example doped crystalline silicon or polysilicon, granular metals or 2D materials. 
       FIG. 9  steps B-F follow the description given for steps B-F of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 9 b    step G follows the description given for step G of  FIG. 8 , with the addition of etching openings  73  in order to make electrical connection between the electrical connections  67  and  71 , and further instrumentation off of the cantilever chip. These openings would be etched either during the same step as the cantilever release as described in  FIG. 6  step F (if the electrical contact layer acts as a suitable etch stop for the etch process), or with a similar etch only in the opening region before the cantilever release step. 
       FIGS. 10 a  and 10 b    present an overview of a process for integrating both a moulded sharp tip and electrical deflection sensing elements onto the upper outer surface of the cantilever device. 
       FIG. 10 , steps A-F follow the description given for steps A-F of  FIG. 8 . 
     In  FIG. 10  step G, strain sensor element  75  and electrical connections  77  and  79  are deposited (or deposited and patterned) as described in  FIG. 9  step A. An area to make electrical connections  73  to further instrumentation off the cantilever chip can be included as part of the definition of the electrical connection  79 . 
       FIG. 10  step H follows the description from step G in  FIG. 8 . 
       FIGS. 11 a  and 11 b    present an overview of a process for integrating both a moulded sharp tip and electrical deflection sensing elements onto two inner surfaces of the composite sandwich cantilever device. 
       FIG. 11  step A is performed according to the description in step A of  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 11  steps B-C follow the description given for steps B-C of  FIG. 8 . 
     In  FIG. 11  step D, on wafer  51   a  from step C, strain sensor element  81  and electrical connections  83  and  85  are deposited (or deposited and patterned) according to the description in  FIG. 9  step A. 
       FIG. 11  steps E-G are performed according to the description in steps D-F of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 11  step H is performed according to the description in  FIG. 9 , step G. Opening  87  to connection  85  as well as opening  73  to connection  71  must both be made, according to description in  FIG. 9  step G. These openings may be created serially or as part of one etching process step. 
     Alternative tip integration strategies beyond a moulded tip are desirable.  FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    present an overview of a process for integrating both an etched sharp silicon tip and electrical deflection sensing elements onto one inner surface of the composite sandwich cantilever device. 
       FIG. 12  step A is performed as is described in step A of  FIG. 8 . 
     In  FIG. 12  step B, the process is shown using an SOI wafer consisting of two silicon layers  89  and  91  separated by a silicon dioxide layer  93 . The thickness of layer  89  is from about 5 μm up to 50 μm, and is related to the desired final height of the silicon tip. On the SOI wafer, a layer  95  is grown or deposited according to the description in  FIG. 8 , step A. An SOI wafer is not strictly necessary for this process, but is a matter of convenience for defining the thickness of layer  89 . On this wafer, layers  53   a  and  53   b  are grown or deposited according to the description in  FIG. 8 , step A. 
     In  FIG. 12  step C, the wafer from step A and step B are bonded together using an intermediate polymer layer  61  according to  FIG. 8 , step D. 
       FIG. 12  step D is performed as is described in  FIG. 8 , step E. 
     In  FIG. 12  step E, an etch is performed according to the description of  FIG. 6  step C, in order to remove or partially remove layer  91  and wafer  51   b.  Layer  93  in the SOI wafer serves as an etch stop in this process to help define the thickness of layer  89 . If not using an SOI wafer, the etch could be timed in order to leave a layer  89  of desired thickness, and subsequently, a layer  93  that serves subsequently as a wet etch mask could be deposited on the wafer using any low-temperature process, for example using PECVD to deposit silicon oxide or nitride, or evaporated Cr/Au. The remaining sections of wafer  51   b  form a remaining support structure  52  and the chip body  54 . 
     In  FIG. 12  step F, layer  93  is partially removed using lithography and a dry or wet etch. 
     In  FIG. 12  step G, layer  89  is etched using the patterned layer  93  as a mask, in order to leave a sharp tip structure  95  on the released composite membrane  56 . This etch can be, for example a wet etch using KOH or other anisotropic etchant as is commonly done (e.g. using a triangular mask) for the fabrication of sharp tip structures in silicon. 
       FIG. 12  step H is performed according to  FIG. 9 , step G. 
     As described in relation to  FIG. 4 , different types of self-sensing strategies can be integrated into the cantilever.  FIGS. 13 a  and 13 b    presents an overview of a process for integrating both a moulded sharp tip and piezoelectric deflection sensing elements onto one inner surface of the composite sandwich cantilever device. 
       FIG. 13   a,  step A is performed according to the description in  FIG. 8 , step A to create on wafer  51   b  layers  53   c  and  53   d.  Subsequently, electrical contact layer  97 , piezoelectric layer  99  and electrical contact layer  101  are grown or deposited successively. The piezoelectric layer could be made of a material like AlN, or PZT, or others. The thickness of this layer would depend upon the material but could range from a few hundred nm up to about 2 μm. The electrical contact layers would be typically made of a metal like gold, silver, platinum, aluminum, molybdenum, etc. or an alloy and would have a thickness from about 20 nm up to 200 nm. 
     In  FIG. 13 a    step B, electrical contact layers  97  and  101  and piezoelectric layer  99  are lithographically patterned and etched in order to expose part of layer  97 . In addition, the layers could be partially removed across the wafer if desired (for example, such that the layers do not extend completely across the planar area of the cantilever beam. The etch could be a dry or wet etch. 
       FIG. 13  steps C-D are performed according to the description of  FIG. 8 , steps B-C. 
     In  FIG. 13  step E, wafers from step D and step B are bonded according to description of  FIG. 8  step D. 
       FIG. 13  steps F-G are performed as is described for  FIG. 8 , steps E-F. 
       FIG. 13  step H follows the description of  FIG. 9 , step G. Openings  103  and  105  to both electrical contact layers  97  and  101  must be made. 
     Membrane Devices 
     In addition to cantilever-based devices, an alternative embodiment of the invention concerns membrane devices, or structured membranes such as doubly- or multiply-clamped beams, etc. 
       FIGS. 14 a  and 14 b    present an overview of a process for fabricating a device with electrical deflection sensing elements, where the device is a membrane instead of a cantilever. In the FIG., no tip-like structure is shown in the process, although one could be incorporated into the membrane following a process like that shown in  FIG. 9 , along the description below in order to make a membrane and not a cantilever. 
     In  FIG. 14 a    step A, layers  47   c  and  47   d  are created on wafer  43   a  according to  FIG. 6 , step A. In addition, deflection sensing elements  67   a  and  67   b  with electrical contacts  69   a,    69   b,    71   a  and  71   b  are included as is described for  FIG. 9 , step A. Two elements are shown in the FIG., but more or fewer could be included as part of the process. 
       FIGS. 14 a  and 14 b    steps B-D are performed according to the description in  FIG. 6  steps B-D, in order to release the composite membrane  90 . 
     In  FIG. 14 b    step E, an etch is performed in order to define the (optionally) structured membrane  92  as is described in  FIG. 9  step G. At minimum, openings  111  to the electrical contacts must be made during this etch. The membrane can be structured into a number of different shapes, such as a doubly-clamped beam, a crossed beam, or a full membrane as shown in  FIG. 14   c.    
     Alternative Layer Configurations 
       FIG. 15  presents an overview of an alternate configuration for a composite sandwich cantilever. In this embodiment of the invention, a layer of high elastic modulus forms the core of the cantilever, with layers of low elastic modulus and high loss coefficient surrounding this core. The core layer can for example include or be formed of any of the materials previously mentioned for the surrounding or sandwiching layers. The surrounding or sandwiching layers can for example include or be formed of any of the materials previously mentioned for the core layer. The advantage of this construction over the earlier-described embodiments is the relative simplicity of the fabrication process. This architecture would retain a benefit to the bandwidth ratio f 0 /Q through a reduction in the Q factor of the cantilever over a uniform cantilever, due to the inclusion of damping layers. However, the cantilever performance metric f 0   2 /k would not be improved through this architecture, because the layers with highest elastic modulus are close to the neutral axis. 
     In  FIG. 15  step A, layers  153   a  and  153   b  on wafer  151  are created according to the description for  FIG. 6  step A. 
     In  FIG. 15  step B, layer  153   b  is partially removed through lithography and a wet or dry etch. Wafer  151  is then etched, using KOH or other etch process as described in  FIG. 6  step D, in order to release the membrane  156  and define support structure  152  and chip body  150 . 
     In  FIG. 15  step C, layers  155  and  157  with low elastic modulus and high loss coefficient are deposited in order to define the composite membrane  158 . These layers are ideally made of material and thickness as described in  FIG. 6 , step B for layer  45 . The deposition process could be any number of conformal deposition processes, for example CVD or spray coating. 
     In  FIG. 15  step D, layers  153   a,    155  and  157  are etched in order to define the cantilever  160 . This etch process is performed according to the description in  FIG. 6 , step E. 
       FIG. 15  step E is performed as is described for  FIG. 6 , step F. 
       FIGS. 16 a  and 16 b    present an overview for the addition of a sharp tip on the cantilever architecture shown in  FIG. 15 . In step A, layers  153   a  and  153   b  are grown or deposited on silicon wafer  151 . These layers could be silicon nitride or silicon oxide, with thickness from 100 nm up to 2 μm, depending on the layer material and the desired etch depth of the silicon wafer (in step B). 
     In  FIG. 16 a    step B, layer  153   b  is patterned using lithography and a dry or wet etch. Subsequently, the wafer  151  is exposed to KOH or similar anisotropic etchant until the desired thickness of silicon wafer remains. This thickness is between about 5 and 50 μm depending on the specific tip geometry. Alternatively, an SOI wafer could be used to define the desired thickness of the remaining silicon wafer, stopping on the buried oxide layer (which may need to be subsequently removed). 
     In  FIG. 16 a    step C, layers  153   a  and  153   b  are removed using a dry or wet etch. Layers  161   a  and  161   b  are then grown or deposited following the description of  FIG. 6  step A. Layer  161   a  is patterned using lithography and a dry or wet etch to form a mask for the subsequent tip etch. 
       FIG. 16 a    step D is performed according to the description of  FIG. 12 , step G, to create sharp silicon tip structure  163  on released membrane  156 , with remaining silicon wafer forming a support structure  152  and chip body  150 . 
       FIG. 16 b    step E follows the description for  FIG. 15 , step C. 
     In  FIG. 16 b    step F, layer  155  is removed in the region covering the tip using lithography combined with a dry or wet etch. The layer could be patterned using a photoresist or a hard mask. 
       FIG. 16 b    step G follows the description for  FIG. 15 , step D. 
       FIG. 16 b    step H is performed as is described for  FIG. 6 , step F. 
     Alternative Fabrication Process—Layer by Layer Deposition 
       FIGS. 17   a,    17   b,    17   c  and  17   d  present an overview of a process to create the cantilever using layer-by-layer deposition, as opposed to wafer bonding. 
     In  FIG. 17  step A, layers  183   a  and  183   b  are grown or deposited on silicon wafer  181  as described for  FIG. 6 , step A. 
     In  FIG. 17  step B, layer  185  is grown or deposited as described for  FIG. 6 , step B. Subsequently, layer  187  is grown or deposited. Layer  187  would have similar properties and thickness to layer  183   a  (ideally the same material and thickness). The process used to deposit layer  187  is dependent on the maximum temperature that the underlying layers ( 183   a,  most importantly  185 ) can withstand. Some polymers are able to withstand processes above 200-300° C, which would permit using deposition processes like PECVD, ALD, evaporation, sputtering, etc. in order to deposit layer  187 . 
     In  FIG. 17  step C, layer  183   b  is patterned using lithography and a dry or wet etch. 
     In  FIG. 17  step D, silicon wafer  181  is exposed to KOH or similar anisotropic etchant to release composite membrane  184 , leaving support structure  180  and chip body  182 . Alternatively, a dry etch like DRIE could be used (see  FIG. 6 , step D for reference). 
       FIG. 17 , steps E-F are performed following the description for  FIG. 6 , steps E-F. 
     Layer by Layer Deposition Implementation 
     The process has been carried out by deposition of thin films with ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) shown in  FIGS. 17 c    and  17   d.  The advantages of ALD over other deposition processes like CVD, sputtering and thermal evaporation are low deposition temperature, convenient thin film quality, thickness control and material variety like SiO 2 , TiO 2 , HfO 2 , Al 2 O 3  and TiN. These advantages enable us to tune the quality factor of the cantilevers, however other deposition or growth methods can be used as well. 
       FIG. 17 c    step G demonstrates wafer  201  which consists of wafer  181  and layer  183   b  where layer  183   a  is stripped off by dry etching. Layer  98  is an etch stop layer like Al or Ti to protect the deposited thin film from KOH shown in  FIG. 17  step D. 
     In  FIG. 17 c    step H, layer  202   a  is deposited by ALD followed by coating layer  185  and then deposition of layer  202   b  by ALD. 
       FIG. 17  steps I and J are carried out as described previously in relation to steps C and D of  FIG. 17 . 
     In  FIG. 17  step K the sandwich structure and layer  98  are etched followed by step L which is carried out as described in relation to step F of  FIG. 17   b.    
       FIG. 18  presents an overview of a process to create the cantilever including a sharp tip structure using a layer-by-layer deposition. 
     The structure shown in  FIG. 18  step A is achieved following the description for  FIG. 16  steps A-D. 
     In  FIG. 18  step B, layers  195  and  197  are deposited as described for  FIG. 17 , step B, forming the composite membrane  184 . 
     In  FIG. 18  step C, layers  195  and  197  are removed in the region covering the tip using lithography and a dry or wet etch, exposing the tip structure  191 . The layers could be patterned using a photoresist or hard mask. 
       FIG. 18  steps D-E are performed following the description of  FIG. 6 , steps E-F. 
     Having described preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating its concept may be used. This invention should not be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but rather should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 
     While the invention has been disclosed with reference to certain preferred embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations, and changes to the described embodiments, and equivalents thereof, are possible without departing from the sphere and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the described embodiments, and be given the broadest reasonable interpretation in accordance with the language of the appended claims. 
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         10. Thaysen, J., Yalçinkaya, A., Vettiger, P. &amp; Menon, A. Polymer-based stress sensor with integrated readout.  J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys.  35, 2698-2703 (2002). 
         11. Calleja, M. et al. Highly sensitive polymer-based cantilever-sensors for DNA detection.  Ultramicroscopy  105, 215-222 (2005). 
         12. Nordström, M. et al. SU-8 Cantilevers for Bio/chemical Sensing; Fabrication, Characterisation and Development of Novel Read-out Methods.  Sensors  8, 1595-1612 (2008). 
         13. Mangonov, S. N. &amp; Whangbo, M.-H.  Surface analysis with STM and AFM: experimental and theoretical aspects of image analysis. Surface analysis with STM and AFM: experimental and theoretical aspects of image analysis  (VCH, 1996). 
         14. Li, M., Tang, H. X. &amp; Roukes, M. L. Ultra-sensitive NEMS-based cantilevers for sensing, scanned probe and very high-frequency applications.  Nat. Nanotechnol.  2,114-20 (2007). 
         15. Gotszalk, T., Grabiec, P., Tomerov, E. &amp; Rangelow, I. W. T hermally driven micromechanical beam with piezoresistive deflection readout. 68, 550-556 (2003). 
         16. Ivanov, T., Gotszalk, T., Sulzbach, T., Chakarov, I. &amp; Rangelow, I. W. A FM cantilever with ultra-thin transistor-channel piezoresistor: quantum confinement. 68, 534-541 (2003). 
         17. Linnemann, R. Characterization of a cantilever with an integrated. 264, (1995). 
         18. Manalis, S. R., Minne, S. C. &amp; Quate, C. F. Atomic force microscopy for high speed imaging using cantilevers with an integrated actuator and sensor.  Appl. Phys. Lett.  68, 871 (1996). 
         19. Lee, C., Itoh, T. &amp; Suga, T. Self-excited piezoelectric PZT microcantilevers for dynamic SFM—with inherent sensing and actuating capabilities.  Sensors Actuators A  72, 179-188 (1999). 
         20. Watanabe, S. &amp; Fujii, T. Micro-fabricated piezoelectric cantilever for atomic force microscopy.  Rev. Sci. Instrum.  67, 3898 (1996). 
         21. Lee, J. &amp; King, W. P. Liquid Operation of Silicon Microcantilever Heaters.  IEEE Sens. J.  8, 1805-1806 (2008). 
         22. King, W. P. Improved All-Silicon Microcantilever Heaters With Integrated Piezoresistive Sensing.  J. Microelectromechanical Syst.  17, 432-445 (2008). 
         23. Lee, J. et al. Electrical, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of Silicon Microcantilever Heaters.  J. Microelectromechanical Syst.  15, 1644-1655 (2006). 
         24. Brugger, J., Blamf, N., Renaudb, P. &amp; Rooija, N. F. De. Microlever with combined integrated sensor/actuator functions for scanning force microscopy. 43, 339-345 (1994). 
         25. Adams, J. D. et al. Analysis of local deformation effects in resistive strain sensing of a submicron-thickness AFM cantilever, in  Proceedings of SPIE Microtechnologies, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS IV  8763, 876327 (2013). 
         26. Pharr, G. M. &amp; Oliver, W. C. Measurement of Thin Film Mechanical Properties Using Nanoindentation. (1992). 
         27. Xiang, Y., Chen, X. &amp; Vlassak, J. J. Plane-strain Bulge Test for Thin Films.  J. Mater. Res.  20, 2360-2370 (2011). 
         28. Weihs, T. P., Hong, S., Bravman, J. C. &amp; Nix, W. D. Mechanical deflection of cantilever microbeams: A new technique for testing the mechanical properties of thin films.  J. Mater. Res.  3, 931-942 (1988). 
         29. Le Rouzic, J., Delobelle, P., Vairac, P. &amp; Cretin, B. Comparison of three different scales techniques for the dynamic mechanical characterization of two polymers (PDMS and SU8).  Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys.  48, 11201 (2009). 
         30. Ayela, C., Heinrich, S. M., Josse, F. &amp; Dufour, I. Resonant microcantilevers for the determination of the loss modulus of thin polymer films.  J. Microelectromechanical Syst.  20, 788-790 (2011). 
         31. Huber, F., Lang, H. P., Backmann, N., Rimoldi, D. &amp; Gerber, C. Direct detection of a BRAF mutation in total RNA from melanoma cells using cantilever arrays.  Nat. Nanotechnol.  8, 125-9 (2013). 
         32. Yang, Y. et al. Batch-fabricated cantilever probes with electrical shielding for nanoscale dielectric and conductivity imaging.  J. Micromechanics Microengineering  22, 115040 (2012). 
         33. Albrecht, T. R., Akamine, S., Carver, T. E. &amp; Quate, C. F. Microfabrication of cantilever styli for the atomic force microscope.  J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A  8, 3386-3396 (1990). 
         34. Burt, D. P., Dobson, P. S., Donaldson, L. &amp; Weaver, J. M. R. A simple method for high yield fabrication of sharp silicon tips.  Microelectron. Eng.  85, 625-630 (2008). 
       
    
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 APPENDIX A 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 The table below presents a detailed runcard for parylene/nitride trilayer cantilevers with moulded nitrid tip. 
               
               
                 Projet 
               
               
                 Parylene/nitride AFM 
               
               
                 cantilevers 
               
               
                 Substrates: silicon &lt;100&gt;, 100 mm, 380 um, double side, Prime, p type, 1-10 
               
               
                 Ohmcm. 2 wafers 
               
               
                 Step 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 N° 
                 Description 
                 Equipement 
                 Program/Parameters 
                 Target 
                 Actual 
                 Remarks 
                 Name 
                 Date 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 1 
                 Oxide deposition - tip wafter 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 1.1 
                 RCA1 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:NH4OH:H2O2 (5:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.2 
                 HF dip 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 HF:H2O (1:10) 
                 15 s 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.3 
                 RCA2 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:HCl:H2O2 (6:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.4 
                 Fast fill rinse 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.5 
                 Trickle tank 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.6 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z3/Semitool 
                 Prog. 1 
                   
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.7 
                 Wet oxidation 
                 Z3/Centrotherm 
                 Wet oxide std process 
                 500 nm 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 LPCVD 
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 1.8 
                 Oxide 
                 Z3/Nanospec/AFT6100 
                   
                 500 nm 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 thickness 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 meas. 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 2 
                 Photolithography - Backside registry mask - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 2.1 
                 Surface 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 4 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 activation 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 high 5 min (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.2 
                 Spin on 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 AZ1512HS, STD-4000- 
                 1.2 um 
                   
                 Dispense ~3 mL 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 RPM 
                   
                   
                 resist 
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.3 
                 PR bake 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 100° C. on hotplate 
                 1 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.4 
                 Expose 
                 Z13/MJB4 
                 Hard contact, CP mode 
                 3 sec 
                   
                 for 20 mW/cm2 i- 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 line intensity 
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.5 
                 PR develop 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 MFCD26 
                 30 sec 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.6 
                 DI Rinse 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.7 
                 N2 dry 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.8 
                 Inspection 
                 Z13/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 2.9 
                 Descum 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 44 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 low 20 sec (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 3 
                 Oxide dry etch backside registry - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 3.1 
                 Oxide dry etch 
                 Z2/SPTS 
                 SiO2 PR 5:1 
                 500 nm 
                   
                 Stop after EPD 
                   
                   
               
               
                 3.2 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 4 
                 Resist strip - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 4.1 
                 O2 plasma 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 Strip high 5 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 4.2 
                 1165 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 5 min bath 1, 5 min bath 2, 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 QDR, TT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 4.3 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 prog 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 4.4 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/Visual 
                 Visual inspection for resist 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 residue 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 5 
                 Photolithography - Tip openings mask - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 5.1 
                 Surface 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 4 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 activation 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 high 5 min (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.2 
                 Spin on 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 AZ1512HS, STD-4000- 
                 1.2 um 
                   
                 Dispense ~3 mL 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 RPM 
                   
                   
                 resist 
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.3 
                 PR bake 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 100° C. on hotplate 
                 1 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.4 
                 Expose 
                 Z6/MA6 
                 Hard contact, CP mode 
                 2.4 s 
                   
                 for 10 mW/cm2 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 broadband 
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.5 
                 PR develop 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 MFCD26 
                 30 sec 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.6 
                 DI Rinse 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.7 
                 N2 dry 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.8 
                 Inspection 
                 Z13/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 5.9 
                 Descum 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 44 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 low 20 sec (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 6 
                 Oxide dry etch tip openings - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 6.1 
                 Oxide dry etch 
                 Z2/SPTS 
                 SiO2 PR 5:1 
                 500 nm 
                   
                 Stop after EPD 
                   
                   
               
               
                 6.2 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 7 
                 Resist strip - tip wafer  
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 7.1 
                 O2 plasma 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 Strip high 5 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 7.2 
                 1165 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 5 min bath 1, 5 min bath 2, 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 QDR, TT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 7.3 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 prog 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 7.4 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/Visual 
                 Visual inspection for resist 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 residue 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 8 
                 KOH Etching - tip pits - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 8.1 
                 HF dip 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 1% HF, 30 sec 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.2 
                 FFR 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.3 
                 KOH Etching 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 40%, 60° C., control density 
                 3.5 um 
                   
                 perform 100% 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 to 1.37 at 60° C. 
                   
                   
                 overetch 
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.4 
                 FFR 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.5 
                 Neutralization 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 HCL room temp 
                 2 h 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.6 
                 FFR 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 8.7 
                 Air dry 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 9 
                 Oxide strip - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 9.1 
                 BHF oxide 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                 BHF clean 
                 500 nm 
                   
                 perform 50% 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 etch 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 overetch 
                   
                   
               
               
                 9.2 
                 FFR 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                 check for 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 hydrophobicity 
                   
                   
               
               
                 9.3 
                 TT 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 9.4 
                 SRD 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                 prog 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 10 
                 Wet oxidation and low stress nitride deposition - tip water 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 10.1 
                 RCA1 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:NH4OH:H2O2 (5:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.2 
                 HF dip 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 HF:H2O (1:10) 
                 15 s 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.3 
                 RCA2 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:HCl:H2O2 (6:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.4 
                 Fast fill rinse 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.5 
                 Trickle tank 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.6 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z3/Semitool 
                 Prog. 1 
                   
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.7 
                 Oxide 
                 Z3/Centrotherm wet 
                 wet oxide 950° C. 
                 4000 A 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 deposition 
                 oxide 
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.8 
                 Nitride 
                 Z3/Centrotherm 
                 Low stress nitride 
                 200 nm 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 deposition 
                 LPCVD 
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 10.9 
                 Nitride 
                 Z3/Nanospec/AFT6100 
                   
                 200 nm 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 thickness 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 meas. 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 11 
                 Nitride deposition - chip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 11.1 
                 RCA1 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:NH4OH:H2O2 (5:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.2 
                 HF dip 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 HF:H2O (1:10) 
                 15 s 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.3 
                 RCA2 clean 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                 H2O:HCl:H2O2 (6:1:1) 
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 75° C. 
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.4 
                 Fast fill rinse 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.5 
                 Trickle tank 
                 Z3/WB_PreOx_Clean 
                   
                 15 min 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.6 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z3/Semitool 
                 Prog. 1 
                   
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.7 
                 Nitride  
                 Z3/Centrotherm 
                 Low stress nitride 
                 200 nm 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 deposition 
                 LPCVD 
                 perform 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 11.8 
                 Nitride thick. 
                 Z3/Nanospec/AFT6100 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 meas. 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 12 
                 Parylene deposition - chip and tip wafers 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 12.1 
                 Piranha clean 
                 Z2/UFT piranha 
                 5 min bath 1, 5 min bath 2, 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 QDR, TT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.2 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z2/UFT piranha 
                 Prog. 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.3 
                 Silanization 
                 Z14/Solvent bench 
                 Std process, instructions 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 posted at bench 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.4 
                 UV tape 
                 Z11/Powatec 
                 Manual mounting. Avoid 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 protect 
                   
                 touching wafer surface 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.5 
                 Package for 
                 Material transfer 
                 Fill out form and place 
                   
                   
                 use dedicated 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 transfer 
                 zone 
                 wafers in parylene cabinet 
                   
                   
                 parylene I/O box 
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.6 
                 Parylene 
                 Z10/Comelec 
                   
                 2 um 
                   
                 CMi staff to 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 deposition 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 perform 
                   
                   
               
               
                 12.7 
                 Wafers back to 
                 Material transfer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 cleanroom 
                 zone 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 13 
                 Parylene - Parylene bonding - chip and tip wafers 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 13.1 
                 UV tape 
                 Z11/Powatec 
                 std process avoid touching 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 removal 
                   
                 parylene surface 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 13.2 
                 O2 plasma 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 prog 44 (15 sec) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 low 20 sec (GB) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 13.3 
                 HF dip 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                 HF:H2O (1:4) room temp 
                 20 s 
                   
                 HF dip and oven dry untested, 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 may improve bonding 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 13.4 
                 FFR 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 13.5 
                 TT 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 13.6 
                 SRD 
                 Z2/Plade oxide 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 13.7 
                 Oven dry 
                 Z6/Heraus 
                 150 deg C. 15 min 
                   
                   
                 12.2-12.7 done indivually right 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 before bonding 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 13.8 
                 Parylene 
                 Z6/SB6 
                 prog adams_parylene_v1 
                   
                   
                 align flats by eye 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 bonding 
                   
                 (280 deg C. vac 30 min) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 14 
                 Photolithography - chip body openings - backside alignment 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 14.1 
                 Surface 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 3 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 activation 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 high 1 min (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.2 
                 Spin on 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 AZ1512HS, STD-4000- 
                 1.2 um 
                   
                 Dispense ~3 mL 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 RPM 
                   
                   
                 resist 
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.3 
                 PR bake 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 100° C. on hotplate 
                 1 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.4 
                 Expose 
                 Z6/MA6 
                 Hard contact, CP mode, 
                 2.4 s 
                   
                 for 10 mW/cm2 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 backside align 
                   
                   
                 broadband 
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.5 
                 PR develop 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 MFCD26 
                 30 sec 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.6 
                 DI Rinse 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.7 
                 N2 dry 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 14.8 
                 Inspection 
                 Z13/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 15 
                 Dry etch - chip body openings 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 15.1 
                 Nitride dry etch 
                 Z2/SPTS 
                 SiO2 PR 5:1 
                 200 nm 
                   
                 Use EPD, 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 overetch is ok 
                   
                   
               
               
                 15.2 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 16 
                 Resist strip - chip side 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 16.1 
                 O2 plasma 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 Strip high 1 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 16.2 
                 1165 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 5 min bath 1, 5 min bath 2, 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 QDR, TT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 16.3 
                 Spin rinser 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 prog 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dryer 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 16.4 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/Visual 
                 Visual inspection for resist 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 residue 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 17 
                 Photolithography - usuable disk - tip side 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 17.1 
                 Surface 
                 Z11/Tepla 300 or 
                 Program 3 (300) or Strip 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 activation 
                 Z2/Tepla GigaBatch 
                 high 1 min (GigaBatch) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.2 
                 Spin on 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 AZ1512HS, STD-4000- 
                 1.2 um 
                   
                 Dispense ~3 mL 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 RPM 
                   
                   
                 resist 
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.3 
                 PR bake 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 100° C. on hotplate 
                 1 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.4 
                 Expose 
                 Z6/MA6 
                 Hard contact, CP mode, 
                 2.4 s 
                   
                 for 10 mW/cm2 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 broadband 
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.5 
                 PR develop 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 MFCD26 
                 30 sec 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.6 
                 DI Rinse 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.7 
                 N2 dry 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17.8 
                 Inspection 
                 Z13/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 18 
                 Dry etch - usable disk opening 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 18.1 
                 Nitride/oxide  
                 Z2/SPTS 
                 SiO2 PR 5:1 
                 400 nm/ 
                   
                 Use EPD, 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 dry etch 
                   
                   
                 200 nm 
                   
                 overetch is ok 
                   
                   
               
               
                 18.2 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 19 
                 KOH etching - Si bulk removal and membrane release 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 19.1 
                 SS Chuck 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                   
                 150 um 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 mounting 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 19.2 
                 KOH Etching 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 40%, 60° C., control density 
                 380 um 
                   
                 overnight etch 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 to 1.37 at 60° C. 
                   
                   
                 approx 18 h 
                   
                   
               
               
                 19.3 
                 FFR 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 19.4 
                 Neutralization 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 HCL room temp 
                 2 h 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 19.5 
                 FFR 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 19.6 
                 Air dry 
                 Z5/Plade Six Sigma 
                   
                   
                   
                 dry overnight 
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 20 
                 Aluminum etch stop and hard mask deposition 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 20.1 
                 Etch stop al 
                 Z11/EVA760 
                 250 mm height prog AL 
                 2 um 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 coating 
                   
                 160? 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 20.2 
                 Hard mask al 
                 Z11/EVA760 
                 250 mm height prog AL 
                 300 nm 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 coating 
                   
                 160? 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 21 
                 Photolithography - Cantilever definition 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 21.1 
                 Surface 
                 Z6/Heraus 
                 150 deg C. 15 min 
                   
                   
                 Or alternate thermal 
                   
               
               
                   
                 activation 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 dehydration 
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 21.2 
                 Spin on 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 AZ9260, STD-1200-RPM 
                 12 um 
                   
                 dispense resist 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 over all wafer 
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.3 
                 PR bake 
                 Z13/SSE SB20 
                 115° C. on hotplate 
                 6 min 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.4 
                 Rehydration 
                 Z13/wafer carrier 
                 1 h delay in ambient 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 delay 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.5 
                 Expose 
                 Z13/MJB4 
                 Hard contact, CH1 mode, 
                 95 sec 
                   
                 20 mW/cm{circumflex over ( )}2 i- 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 1900 mJ/cm{circumflex over ( )}2 
                   
                   
                 line 
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.6 
                 PR develop 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 AZ developer full conc. 
                 5 min? 
                   
                 photolitho 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 params to be 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 refined 
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.7 
                 DI Rinse 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                 careful with 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 fragile membrane 
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.8 
                 air dry 
                 Z13/Develop bench 
                   
                   
                   
                 dry overnight 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ideally 
                   
                   
               
               
                 21.9 
                 Inspection 
                 Z13/microscope 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 22 
                 Dry etch - sandwich 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 22.1 
                 Al dry etch 
                 Z2/STS 
                 Al_etch 
                 300 nm 
                   
                 Use EPD, signal difficult to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 (~1 min) 
                   
                 see. Also observe visually 
               
               
                 22.2 
                 Oxide + nitride 
                 Z2/STS 
                 Oxyde 
                 400nm/ 
                   
                 Use EPD, signal difficult to 
               
               
                   
                 dry etch 
                   
                   
                 200 nm 
                   
                 see. Also observe visually 
               
               
                 22.3 
                 parylene dry 
                 Z2/STS 
                 pyralin 
                 4 um 
                   
                 Use EPD, signal difficult to 
               
               
                   
                 etch 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 see. Also observe visually 
               
               
                 22.4 
                 Nitride dry etch 
                 Z2/STS 
                 Oxyde 
                 200 nm 
                   
                 Use EPD, signal difficult to 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 see. Also observe visually 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 23 
                 Resist strip 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 23.1 
                 1165 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                 5 min bath 1, 5 min bath 2, 
                 12 um 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 QDR, TT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 23.2 
                 Air dry 
                 Z2/UFT resist 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 23.3 
                 Inspection 
                 Z2/Visual 
                 Visual inspection for resist 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 residue 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 24 
                 Aluminum wet etch 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 24.1 
                 Alu wet etch 
                 Z2/Plade metal or 
                 ANP 35 degrees 
                 2 um 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 24.2 
                 DI rinse 
                 Z2/Plade metal or 
                 TT only, or manual beaker 
                 3 times 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                 rinse 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 24.3 
                 Air dry 
                 Z2/Plade metal or 
                   
                   
                   
                 no need for 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                   
                   
                   
                 extensive drying 
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 25 
                 Oxide strip - tip wafer 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 25.1 
                 BHF oxide 
                 Z2/Plade oxide or 
                 BHF contaminated 
                 400 nm 
                   
                 perform 50% 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 etch 
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                   
                   
                   
                 overetch 
                   
                   
               
               
                 25.2 
                 DI rinse 
                 Z2/Plade oxide or 
                 3 fill-exchanges 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 25.3 
                 Air dry 
                 Z2/Plade oxide or 
                   
                   
                   
                 dry overnight 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Z14/Arias acid 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 25 
                 Metal reflective coating deposition 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 25.1 
                 Ti/Au evap 
                 Z11/EVA760 
                 450 mm height Ti/Al for 
                 5 nm/30 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 liftoff 
                 nm