Fabrication, Dynamics, and Electrical Properties of Insulated SPM Probes for Electrical and.pdf

Fabrication, Dynamics, and Electrical Properties of Insulated SPM Probes for Electrical and Electromechanical Imaging in Liquids 1,2 1 2 2 *,1,2 †,2 B.J. Rodriguez, S. Jesse, K. Seal, A.P. Baddorf, S.V. Kalinin, and P. Rack 1Materials Science and Technology Division and the 2Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Insulated cantilever probes with a high aspect ratio conducting apex have been fabricated and their dynamic and electrical properties analyzed. The cantilevers were coated with silicon dioxide and a via was fabricated through the oxide at the tip apex and backfilled with tungsten to create an insulated probe with a conducting tip. The stiffness and Q-factor of the cantilevers increased after the modifications and their resonances shifted to higher frequencies. The coupling strength between the cantilever and the coating are determined. The applications to conductive and electromechanical imaging of ferroelectric domains are illustrated, and a probe apex repair process is demonstrated. PACS: 07.79.Lh, 81.16.–c, 77.80.Dj * Corresponding author, sergei2@ornl.gov † Corresponding author, prack@utk.edu 1 The ubiquity of electromechanical phenomena in biological and biomolecular systems 1 2 ranging from voltage controlled muscular contractions, to cell electromotility, ion channels, 3 and electromotor proteins necessitate probing these phenomena on the tissue, cellular, sub- cellular, and molecular levels.