Piezoresistive SXM sensors

The design, fabrication and evaluation of various microprobes for applications in scanning probe microscopy are presented. A piezoresistive cantilever with an integrated micro‐tip, as a basic structure, enables surface topography measurements with a resolution up to 0.1 nm. A conductive tip isolated from the cantilever was introduced for scanning capacitance microscopy and scanning electrostatic force microscopy. With this microprobe a capacitance between the micro‐tip and the surface in the range of 10 −22 F could be measured. Modification of the cantilever shape permits fabrication of the multipurpose systems for lateral force microscopy, which enables measurement of friction forces with a resolution of 1 nN. A femtocalorimeter for the detection of heat energy in the range of 50 nW Hz −0.5 was developed. A microbalance cantilever for ‘electronic nose’ applications makes it possible to determine picogram mass changes induced by chemical reactions in chemically sensitive coatings. A scanning near‐field thermal nanoprobe combines a thermal resolution of 10 −3 K with a spatial resolution of 20 nm. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.