Design of atomic force microscope cantilevers for combined thermomechanical writing and thermal reading in array operation

In thermomechanical data writing, a resistively-heated atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever tip forms indentations in a thin polymer film. The same cantilever operates as a thermal proximity sensor to detect the presence of previously written data bits. This paper uses recent progress in thermal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of microelectromechanical systems 2002-12, Vol.11 (6), p.765-774
Main Authors: King, W.P., Kenny, T.W., Goodson, K.E., Cross, G.L.W., Despont, M., Durig, U.T., Rothuizen, H., Binnig, G., Vettiger, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Arrays
Atomic force microscopes
Atomic force microscopy
Design engineering
Driving
Electric potential
Electric variables measurement
Electrical resistance measurement
Electronics
Energy consumption
Exact sciences and technology
Finite difference method
Force sensors
Heating
Magnetic and optical mass memories
Micro- and nanoelectromechanical devices (mems/nems)
Microscopes
Polymer films
Reading
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Simulation
Storage and reproduction of information
Thermal force
Thermal sensors
Thermomechanical processes
Writing
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Summary:In thermomechanical data writing, a resistively-heated atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever tip forms indentations in a thin polymer film. The same cantilever operates as a thermal proximity sensor to detect the presence of previously written data bits. This paper uses recent progress in thermal analysis of the writing and reading modes to develop new cantilever designs for increased speed, sensitivity, and reduced power consumption in both writing and reading operation. Measurements of cantilever electrical resistance during heating reveals physical limits of cantilever writing and reading, and verifies a finite-difference thermal and electrical simulation of cantilever operation. This work proposes two new cantilever designs that correspond to fabrication technology benchmarks. Simulations predict that the proposed cantilevers have a higher data rate and are more sensitive than the present cantilever. The various cantilever designs offer single-bit writing times of 0.2 /spl mu/s-25 /spl mu/s for driving voltages of 2-25 V. The thermal reading /spl Delta/R/R sensitivity is as high as 4/spl times/10/sup -4/ per vertical nm in near steady-state operation.
ISSN:1057-7157
1941-0158
DOI:10.1109/JMEMS.2002.803283