High-speed AFM probe with micromachined membrane tip

This paper presents a micromachined silicon membrane type AFM tip designed to move nearly 1 mu m by electrostatic force. Since the tip can be vibrated in small amplitude with AC voltage input and can be displaced up to l gm by DC voltage input, an additional piezo actuator is not required for scanning of submicron features. The micromachined membrane tips are designed to have 100 kHz similar to 1 MHz resonant frequency. Displacement of the membrane tip is measured by an optical interferometer using a micromachined diffraction grating on a quartz wafer which is positioned behind the membrane tip.