A Leveling Method Based on Current Feedback Mode of Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

Abstract

Substrate leveling is an essential but neglected instrumental technique of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). In this technical note, we provide an effective substrate leveling method based on the current feedback mode of SECM. By using an air-bearing rotary stage as the supporter of an electrolytic cell, the current feedback presents a periodic waveform signal, which can be used to characterize the levelness of the substrate. Tuning the adjusting screws of the tilt stage, substrate leveling can be completed in minutes by observing the decreased current amplitude. The obtained high-quality SECM feedback curves and images prove that this leveling technique is valuable in not only SECM studies but also electrochemical machining.

Integration of thermocouple microelectrode in the scanning electrochemical microscope at variable temperatures: simultaneous temperature and electrochemical imaging and its kinetic studies

“…The finite element modeling method was also used to simulate the tip positive feedback current at different temperatures and the kinetic rate of the etching reaction ( k ) was obtained through COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3b232425. (see Supplementary Fig.…”

Research advances of electrochemical micro/nanofabrication based on confined etchant layer technique

“…CELT微纳加工设备的核心部分是纳米操纵系统, 包括多维超精密定位和信息反馈控制; 此外, 还包括 电化学工作站和计算机控制系统 [31,32] [33] . 调平时, 控制探针电极的位 置不变, 当工件旋转时, 探针电极的电流呈周期性变 化, 表明不同位置基底与探针距离的变化, 并可据此 检测基底水平度并进行调平操作(图2).…”

Electrochemical mechanical micromachining based on confined etchant layer technique

“…The lab-made ECMM equipment has been described elsewhere previously. 26,27 As shown in Fig. 1, the equipment is composed of four parts: a mechanical motion system, an electrochemical system, a monitoring system and an informationprocessing computer.…”

“…26 Before machining, the working stage is levelled through a SECM current feedback mode as reported previously. 27 Then, the tool electrode is moved to the workpiece by the macro-micro dual driven positioning stage Z with the aid of the CCD video monitor. When the tool electrode touches the workpiece, the force feedback of the force-displacement sensing module changes abruptly, which indicating the zero point of ECMM.…”