| 摘要 |
The micromechanical sensor head is designed to measure forces down to 10<-><1><3> N. It comprises a common base (38) from which a cantilever beam (40) and a beam member (44) extend in parallel. The cantilever beam (40) carries a sharply pointed tip (37) of a hard material, dielectric or not, for interaction with the surface of a sample (36) to be investigated. Bulges (45, 46) forming a tunneling junction protrude from facing surfaces of said beams (40, 44), the gap between said bulges (45, 46) being adjustable by meams of electrostatic forces generated by a potential ( V d) applied to a pair of electrodes (41, 43) respectively coated onto parallel surfaces of said beams (40, 44). The sensor head consists of one single piece of semiconductor material, such as silicon or gallium arsenide (or any other compounds thereof) which is fabricated to the dimensions required for the application by meams of conventional semiconductor chip manufacturing techniques. |
