• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.552-555
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• 2004

The reliability issue of the probe tip/recording media interface is one of the most crucial concerns in the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)-based recording technology. In this work, the tribological characteristics of the probe/media interface were investigated by performing wear tests using an AFM. The ranges of applied normal load and sliding velocity for the wear test were 10 to 50nN and 2 to 20$\mu$m/s respectively. The damage of the probe tip was quantitatively as well as qualitatively characterized by Field Emission Scanning Probe Microscope (FESEM) analysis and calculated based on Archard s wear equation. It was shown that the wear coefficient of the probe tip was in the order of 10$^{-4}$ ~ 10$^{-3}$ , and significant contamination at the end of the probe tip was observed. Thus in order to implement the AFM-based recording technology, tribological optimization of the probe/media interface must be achieved.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1888-1891
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• 2003

In this paper, we proposed a new method to control the length of carbon nano tube in the single CNT probe. A single CNT probe was composed of a tungsten tip made by the electrochemical etching and carbon nano tube which was grown by CVD and prepared through the sonication. The two components were attached with the carbon tape. Since the length of CNT can not be controlled during the manufacturing, the post process is needed to shorten the CNT. In this paper, we proposed the method of electrochemical process. The process was done under the optical microscope and the results were checked by SEM. The diameter of the carbon nano tube used in this paper was about 130nm because the above process had to be done with the optical microscope. Using the method proposed in this paper, we can control the length of the nano tube tip.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.362-367
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• 2014

We report the design, fabrication of a $Si_3N_4$ probe and calculation of its mechanical properties for DPN(dip pen nanolithography), which consists of dual tips. Concept of dual tip probe is to employ individual tips on probe as either an AFM tip for imaging or a writing tip for nano patterning. For this, the dual tip probe is fabricated using low residual stress $Si_3N_4$ material with LPCVD deposition and MEMS fabrication process. On the basis of FEM analysis we show that the functionality of dual tip probe for imaging is dependent on the dimensions of dual tip probe, and high ratio of widths of beam areas is preferred to minimize curvature variation on probe.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.167-171
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• 2004

In this paper, we proposed a new method to control the length of carbon nanotube using electrochemical etching. We made a nano probe that was composed of the tungsten tip and multi-wall carbon nanotube. The nano probe was placed on the nano stage and the carbon nanotube on the nano probe was etched in the electrolyte solution with the applied voltage. The overall procedures were done under optical microscope and can be monitored. We can obtain a nano probe with proper length through this procedure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.11 s.242
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• pp.1503-1508
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• 2005

Scanning Thermal Microscope (STU) has been known for its superior resolution for local temperature and thermal property measurement. However, commercially available STU probe which is the key component of SThM does not provide resolution enough to explore nanoscale thermal phenomena. Here, we developed a SThM probe fabrication process that can achieve spatial resolution around 50 m. The batch-fabricated probe has a thermocouple junction located at the end of the tip. The size of the thermocouple junction is around 200 m and the distance of the junction from the very end of the tip is 150 m. The probe is currently being used for nanoscale thermal probing of nano-material and nano device.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1963-1966
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• 2008

We fabricate and evaluate the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor probe with the focused-ionbeam (FIB) for surface electric properties. The probes are designed with the rectangular and V-shaped structures, and their dimensions are determined considering the contact mode operation. The conductive nano tip is grown with FIB system, and deposition condition is controlled for the sharp tip. The fabricated device is applied to the various test patterns like the metal lines and PZT poling regions, and the results show the well defined measurement patterns.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.235-238
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• 2009

To study the relationship between spark ignition and the gap in the nano-scale region, the electric potential was applied to between a Pt-Ir tip and a gold substrate. The tip was sharpened by electro-chemical etching process in the solution of $CaCl_2;H_2O$ and acetone. The radius of tip was measured to be around 200nm and attached to the scanning probe microscope to control the gap between the tip and the substrate. The electric potential of 10V to 80V was applied to initialize the spark. The gaps and the current profile were measured to analyze the characteristics of spark ignition. A spark sustaining time was measured to be between 50ns and 200ns depending on the applied electric potential and the gap between the electrodes. The continuous electric discharge was successfully sustained up to 1 second of spark or arc time. The developed process can be applicable to the micro-scale fabrication of automotive sensors as a similar concept of GTAW.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.1 s.244
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• pp.41-47
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• 2006

High resolution dopant profiling in semiconductor devices has been an intense research topic because of its practical importance in semiconductor industry. Although several techniques have already been developed. it still requires very expensive tools to achieve nanometer scale resolution. In this study we demonstrated a novel dopant profiling technique with nanometer resolution using very simple setup. The newly developed technique measures the thermoelectric voltage generated in the contact point of the SPM probe tip and MOSFET surface instead of electrical signals widely adopted in previous techniques like Scanning Capacitance Microscopy. The spatial resolution of our measurement technique is limited by the size of contact size between SPM probe tip and MOSFET surface and is estimated to be about 10 nm in this experiment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.18-22
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• 2000

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effect of nano-contact condition on the nano-adhesion phenomena. SPM(scanning probe microscope) tips with different radius of curvature were fabricated by a series of masking and etching processes. DLC(diamond-like carbon) and W-DLC (tungsten-incorporated diamond-like carbon) were coated on (100) silicon wafer by PACVD(plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition). Pull-off forces of Pure Si-wafer, DLC and W-DLC were measured with SPM(scanning probe microscope). Also, the same series of tests were carried out with the tips with different radius of curvature. Results showed that DLC and W-DLC showed much lower pull-off force than Si-wafer and Pull-off force increased with the tip radius.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07c
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• pp.1649-1650
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• 2006

반도체 소자의 선폭이 나노미터 스케일로 진입함에 따라 소자의 물리적 특성을 나노미터 스케일에서 정밀하게 측정하고자 하는 요구가 증대되고 있다. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)은 나노미터 이하의 해상도를 가지고 물질 표면의 기하하적, 전기적 특성 등을 측정할 수 있으므로 나노소자 연구에 필수적인 도구가 되었다. 그러나 AFM은 낮은 측정속도와 탐침의 기하학적 형상에 의한 AFM 영상의 왜곡 등과 같은 치명적인 단점도 가지고 있다. AFM의 낮은 측정 속도를 개선하기 위해서 진보된 마이크로머시닝기술을 이용하여 캔틸레버의 크기를 줄이거나 캔틸레버 위에 박막 구동기를 집적시키는 등의 노력이 진행되고 있으나, 이 경우 전통적인 식각 공정을 이용하여 캔틸레버 위에 tip을 형성하는 것이 매우 어렵다. 본 연구에서는 이미 제작된 캔틸레버 위에 전자빔 조사법을 이용하여 탄소상 tip을 직접 성장시킴으로써 전통적인 식각 공정에 비해 매우 간단하고 값싸며, 활용도가 높은 공정을 개발하였다. 탄소상 tip 성장에 필요한 탄소 소스는 dipping 방법을 이용하여 공급하였고, 시분할법을 사용하여 캔틸레버의 원하는 위치에 tip을 성장시킬 수 있었다. 이렇게 제작된 tip은 최대 $5{\mu}m$ 높이까지 가능했으며, 종횡비는 10:1 이상이어서 tip의 형상에 의한 AFM 영상 왜곡 현상을 최소화할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.