High aspect ratio sharp nanotip for nanocantilever integration at CMOS compatible temperature

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate a novel low temperature nanofabrication approach that enables the formation of ultra-sharp high aspect ratio (HAR) and high density nanotip structures and their integration onto nanoscale cantilever beams. The nanotip structure consists of a nanoscale thermally evaporated Cr Spindt tip on top of an amorphous silicon rod. An apex radius of the tip, as small as 2.5 nm, has been achieved, and is significantly smaller than any other Spindt tips reported so far. 100 nm wide tips with aspect ratio of more than 50 and tip density of more than 5 × 10 tips cm have been fabricated. The HAR tips have been integrated onto an array of 460 nm wide cantilever beams with high precision and yield. In comparison with other approaches, this approach allows the integration of HAR sharp nanotips with nano-mechanical structures in a parallel and CMOS compatible fashion for the first time to our knowledge. Potential applications include on-chip high-speed atomic force microscopy and field emission devices.

Built-up AFM tips by metal nanoclusters engineering

“…1c, which should lead to apex radii < 2 nm. These radii are comparable to those of the state-of-the-art cantilever tips currently produced by other methods [11][12][13], showing the potential of this method. These grown nanotips present an enhanced imaging resolution with respect to the blunt tips as substantiated by the acquisition of images at similar tipsample distances before and after the tip sharpening.…”

“…1 puts into perspective the importance of tip sharpness to achieve high-resolution in AFM (HR-AFM). This has motivated the development of different approaches to obtain cantilever tips with radii < 5 nm [11][12][13].…”

A new approach to the fabrication of VO2 nanoswitches with ultra-low energy consumption

“…For instance, the CMOS-compatible technology allows the formation of Si tips with tip-apex radii as small as 2.5 nm and with tip densities in the excess of 5 × 10 9 cm −2 . 55 In the present work, we, for the first time, have formed a small array of free-standing 3D devices with the nanosharp Si tips embedded in VO 2 crystals. We are sure that the proposed approach to the formation of free-standing VO 2 NC based switches with ultra-low energy consumption can also be realized for the case of large-area dense arrays.…”