Integrated scanning tunneling microscope

摘要

There is disclosed herein an integrated scanning tunneling microscope and an integrated piezoelectric transducer and methods for making both. The device consists of one or two arm piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers formed by micromachining using standard integrated circuit processing steps. These cantilevers are attached to the substrate at one area and are free to move under the influence of piezoelectric forces which are caused by the application of appropriate voltages generated by control circuitry and applied to pairs of electrodes formed as an integral part of the bimorph cantilever structure. The electric fields caused by the control voltages cause the piezoelectric bimorphs to move in any desired fashion within ranges determined by the design. The bimorph cantilevers have tips with very sharp points formed thereon which are moved by the action of the control circuit and the piezoelectric bimorphs so to stay within a very small distance of a conducting surface. The movements of the tip can be tracked to yield an image of the surface at atomic resolution