CPM Seminar

Micromechanical instruments are ideal tools for accessing the range of the nanometer scale. They are often made of silicon because of its attractive mechanical properties. One prominent example of such an "interface" between the nano-world and the macrocosm is the scanning force microscope or AFM. There, a minute cantilever with a high resonance frequency is used to measure small forces. Due to the fact that silicon is also the base for many microelectronic elements, such mechanical devices can be further equipped with electronic or electromechnical sensors to measure specific properties of a sample. After a short introduction into silicon micromachining, I will present our current activities in this area of near- field probes. First, the development of a parallel AFM with integrated CMOS electronics for on-chip signal amplification and lever-selection, then the development of an AFM for measurements on Mars. Second, I will report about a combined AFM-SNOM (scanning near-field optical microscope), where the plain Si-tip of the AFM is replaced with a PN-junction tip for photon detection.

Monday, August 16th 1999, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, room 114