A mould-and-transfer technology for fabricating scanning probe microscopy probes

We report a general fabrication technology for realizing singular or arrayed probes for scanning probe microscopy (SPM) applications. This method allows SPM probes to be made of a variety of materials, including metal, polymer (e.g., polyimide, SU-8), elastomer and silicon nitride. The probe shank and tip may be made of different materials. The mould-and-transfer fabrication process can realize arrayed tips with uniform geometries across a wafer, a feature that is especially useful for the development of large arrayed SPM probes. For example, an array with 1 M probes has been made with good uniformity of tip geometries and tip-to-tip spacing of 50 μm. Several specific SPM probe applications based on this process have been demonstrated to illustrate the utility of this general fabrication method. We discuss SPM probes with tips made of metal or polymer materials (polyimide, SU-8 and elastomer), for surface characterization and nanolithography.