• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.73-77
• /
• 2005

In this paper, a new silicon nitride cantilever integrated with silicon heater and piezoelectric sensor has been firstly developed to improve the uniformity of the initial bending and the mechanical stability of the cantilever array for thermo-piezoelectric SPM(scanning probe microscopy) -based data storages. This nitride cantilever shows thickness uniformity less than $2\%$. Data bits of 40 nm in diameter were recorded on PMMA film. The sensitivity of the piezoelectric sensor was 0.615 fC/nm after poling the PZT layer. For high speed operation, 128${\times}$128 probe array was developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.6 s.183
• /
• pp.166-173
• /
• 2006

In this study, a probe array has been developed for use in a data storage device that is based on scanning probe microscope (SPM) and MEMS technology. When recording data bits by poling the PZT thin layer and reading them by sensing its piezoresponse, commercial probes of which the tip heights are typically shorter than $3{\mu}m$ raise a problem due to the electrostatic forces occurring between the probe body and the bottom electrode of a medium. In order to reduce this undesirable effect, a poly-silicon probe with a high aspect-ratio tip was fabricated using a molding technique. Poly-silicon probes fabricated by the molding technique have several features. The tip can be protected during the subsequent fabrication processes and have a high aspect ratio. The tip radius can be as small as 15 nm because sharpening oxidation process is allowed. To drive the probe, electrostatic actuation mechanism was employed since the fabrication process and driving/sensing circuit is very simple. The natural frequency and DC sensitivity of a fabricated probe were measured to be 18.75 kHz and 16.7 nm/V, respectively. The step response characteristic was investigated as well. Overshoot behavior in the probe movement was hardly observed because of large squeeze film air damping forces. Therefore, the probe fabricated in this study is considered to be very useful in probe-based data storages since it can stably approach toward the medium and be more robust against external shock.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.82-90
• /
• 2006

Recently the electrostatic 2-axis MEMS stages have been fabricated for the purpose of an application to PSD (Probe-based Storage Device). However, all of the components(platform, comb electrodes, springs, anchors, etc.) in those stages are placed in-plane so that they have low areal efficienceis, which is undesirable as data storage devices. In this paper, we present a novel structure of an electrostatic 2-axis MEMS stage that is characterized by having large area platform. for obtaining large area efficiency, the actuator part consisting of mainly comb electrodes and springs is placed right below the platform. The structure and operational principle of the MEMS stage are described, followed by a design procedure, structural and modal analyses using FEM(Finite Element Method). The areal efficiency of the MEMS stage was designed to be about 25%, which is very large compared with the conventional ones having a few percentage.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.11 s.176
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 2005

We report on the design and fabrication of an electrostatic 2-axis MEMS stage possessing a platform with a size of $5{times}5mm^2$. The stage, as a key component, would be used in developing probe-based storage devices in the future. It was fabricated by forming numerous $5{\times}5{\mu}m^2$ etching holes in the central platform, as a result, reducing the total number of masks to 1, thereby simplifying the whole fabrication process. Experimental results show that the driving range of the stage was $32{\mu}m$ at the supplied voltage of 20V and the natural frequency was approximately 300Hz. The mechanical coupling between x- and y-motion was also measured and verified to be $25\%$.

• 정보저장시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.195-196
• /
• 2005

We report the new design of a miniature electromagnetic actuator for probe-based data storage with anti-vibration mechanism. The actuator consists of a media substrate, silicon frame, 2 pairs of magnets, a spacer, and a printed circuit board (PCB). The total area of the device is $11.2{\times}11.2 mm^2$ while the data recording area is $7.4{\times}7.4 mm^2$. A net momentum fee structure was included for high vibration resistance. The simulation shows that the lateral vibration can be reduced to below 100 nm for 1 G acceleration if the counter mass is adjusted with $1\%$ difference. The peak power for ${\pm}50 {\mu}m$ displacement is below 50 mW for a actuator with a resonance at 200 Hz.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.293-298
• /
• 2006

Thermopiezoelectric method, using poly silicon heater and a piezoelectric sensor, was proposed for writing and reading in a probe based data storage system. Resistively heated tip writes data bits while scanning over a polymer media and piezoelectric sensor reads data bits from the self-generated charges induced by the deflection of the cantilever. 34${\times}$34 array of thermopiezoelectric nitride cantilevers were fabricated by a single step wafer level transfer method. We analyzed the noise level of the charge amplifier and measured the noise signal. With the sensor and the charge amplifier 20mn of deflection could be detected at a frequency of 10KHz. Reading signal was obtained from the cantilever array and the sensitivity was calculated.

• 정보저장시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.22-25
• /
• 2005

In this research, a wafar-level transfer method of cantilever array on a conventional CMOS circuit has been developed for high density probe-based data storage. The transferred cantilevers were silicon nitride ($Si_3N_4$) cantilevers integrated with poly silicon heaters and piezoelectric sensors, called thermo-piezoelectric $Si_3N_4$ cantilevers. In this process, we did not use a SOI wafer but a conventional p-type wafer for the fabrication of the thermo-piezoelectric $Si_3N_4$ cantilever arrays. Furthermore, we have developed a very simple transfer process, requiring only one step of cantilever transfer process for the integration of the CMOS wafer and cantilevers. Using this process, we have fabricated a single thermo-piezoelectric $Si_3N_4$ cantilever, and recorded 65nm data bits on a PMMA film and confirmed a charge signal at 5nm of cantilever deflection. And we have successfully applied this method to transfer 34 by 34 thermo-piezoelectric $Si_3N_4$ cantilever arrays on a CMOS wafer. We obtained reading signals from one of the cantilevers.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2004

An electromagnetic actuator has been designed and fabricated for Probe-based data storage applications. The actuator consists of permanent magnets(SmCo) housing and a media Platform which is connected to the Si frame by four couples of Si leaf springs. In order to generate electromagnetic force, Cu coils were electroplated under the media platform. The magnetic field distribution was calculated with 3D Finite Element Method of Maxwell 3D program. The field strength felt by Cu coils was estimated to be about 0.33T when the distance between the media platform and permanent magnets is $200\mu\textrm{m}$. The static and dynamic motions of the actuator were analyzed by FEM method with ANSYS 5.3. The measured displacements of the actuator were about $\pm$$92\mu\textrm{m}$ for input current of $\pm$40㎃ and the resonance frequency was 100Hz. The proposed electromagnetic actuator can be utilized for media driver of probe-based data storage system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.9 s.186
• /
• pp.179-189
• /
• 2006

Recently the electrostatic 2-axis MEMS stages have been fabricated f3r the purpose of an application to PSD (Probe-based Storage Device). However, all of the components (platform, comb electrodes, springs, anchors, etc.) in those stages are placed in-plane so that they have low areal efficiencies such as a few percentage, which is undesirable as data storage devices. In this paper, we present a novel structure of an electrostatic 2-axis MEMS stage that is characterized by having a large areal efficiency of about 25%. For obtaining large area efficiency, the actuator part consisting of mainly comb electrodes and springs is placed right below the platform. The structure and operational principle of the MEMS stage are described, followed by a design and analysis, the fabrication and measurement results. Experimental results show that the driving ranges of the fabricated stage along the x and y axis were 27$\mu$m, 38$\mu$m at the supplied voltages of 65V, 70V, respectively and the natural frequencies along x and y axis were 180Hz, 310Hz, respectively. The total size of the stage is about 5.9$\times$6.8mm$^2$ and the platform size is about 2.7$\times$3.6mm$^2$.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.47-53
• /
• 2007

In this paper, a thermo-piezoelectric mechanism with integrated heaters and piezoelectric sensors has been studied for low power probe-based data storage. Silicon nitride cantilever integrated with silicon heater and piezoelectric sensor has been developed to improve the uniformity of cantilevers. Data bits of 40 nm in diameter were recorded on PMMA film. The sensitivity of the piezoelectric sensor was 0.615 fC/nm after poling the PZT layer. And, the $34\times34$ probe array integrated with CMOS circuits has been successfully developed by simple one-step bonding process. The process can simplify the process step and reduce tip wear using silicon nitride tip.