Development of Micro Scanning Multiprobes for Material Characterization

This paper reports the development of micro scanning 12-point probes. The microprobes are Au-coated 1 mu m thick SiO2 cantilevers with sharp tips of about 100 nm diameters. The lengths of probes range from 100 mu m to 300 mu m with the minimum spacing between probes being 4 mu m. A theoretical analysis of the relationship between the deflection of the probes and the residual stress of SiO2 is presented. A method of compensating this residual stress and making the cantilever flatter is also reported. In addition, an analytical model to calculate the maximum allowable displacement of the Au-SiO2 bimetallic cantilever has been developed and verified experimentally.