The scanning near-field optical microscopy imaging of specimens in liquid and of cultured cells in aqueous solutions is reported. A scanning near-field optical/atomic-force microscope (SNOM-AFM) was developed, in which the scanning of an optical-fiber probe cantilever over the specimen was controlled by noncontact mode AFM (dynamic mode AFM). This imaging mode reduces damage to the probe and soft specimens. The resonant frequency of the probe cantilever decreased 20% to ≊14 kHz and the Q factor decreased by a factor of 8 to ≊30 in water, compared with these values in air, which was sufficient to perform SNOM-AFM imaging in liquid.

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This paper reports on the results of comparing different types of tensile testing methods that are used to evaluate thin-film properties. We tested the same material fabricated on a single wafer using different testing techniques at five different research institutions. The testing methods were different in the way the specimen was gripped. Materials tested were single-crystal silicon (SCS), polysilicon, nickel, and titanium films. Specimens with three different shapes were processed through the same fabrication steps. The tensile strength, fracture strain, and Young's modulus of the films were measured and compared. The measured values of the mechanical properties of all the testing methods were in good agreement with each other, thus demonstrating their accuracy.[1123]

Use of a thin step etched optical fiber probe in a scanning near-field optical/atomic-force microscope (SNOM/AFM) produced frictional imaging. The probe was fabricated by the etching of an optical fiber to decrease its diameter and sharpen the tip end with a HF solution and by irradiating a CO2 laser beam to bend the tip. The spring constant of the thin probe is 100 times smaller than that of a conventional optical fiber probe, which allows the probe to be used as a contact AFM mode and in frictional imaging.

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