Dirch Hjorth Petersen

A carbon nanofibre scanning probe assembled using an electrothermal microgripper

Functional devices can be directly assembled using microgrippers with an in situ electron microscope. Two simple and compact silicon microgripper designs are investigated here. These are operated by electrothermal actuation, and are used to transfer a catalytically grown multi-walled carbon nanofibre from a fixed position on a substrate to the tip of an atomic force microscope cantilever, inside a scanning electron microscope. Scanning of high aspect ratio trenches using the nanofibre supertip shows a significantly better performance than that with standard pyramidal silicon tips. Based on manipulation experiments as well as a simple analysis, we show that shear pulling (lateral movement of the gripper) is far more effective than tensile pulling (vertical movement of gripper) for the mechanical removal of carbon nanotubes from a substrate.

Multimodal Electrothermal Silicon Microgrippers for Nanotube Manipulation

Microgrippers that are able to manipulate nanoobjects reproducibly are key components in 3-D nanomanipulation systems. We present here a monolithic electrothermal microgripper prepared by silicon microfabrication, and demonstrate pick-and-place of an as-grown carbon nanotube from a 2-D array onto a transmission electron microscopy grid, as a first step toward a reliable and precise pick-and-place process for carbon nanotubes.

Precision of single-engage micro Hall effect measurements

Recently a novel microscale Hall effect measurement technique has been developed to extract sheet resistance (Rs), Hall sheet carrier density (NHs) and Hall mobility (μH) from collinear micro 4-point probe measurements in the vicinity of an insulating boundary [1]. The technique measures in less than a minute directly the local transport properties, which enables in-line production monitoring on scribe line test pads [2]. To increase measurement speed and reliability, a method in which 4-point measurements are performed using two different electrode pitches has been developed [3]. In this study we calculate the measurement error on RS, NHS and μH resulting from electrode position errors, probe placement, sample size and Hall signal magnitude. We show the relationship between measurement precision and electrode pitch, which is important when down-scaling the micro 4-point probe to fit smaller test pads. The study is based on Monte Carlo simulations.

MICROFABRICATED TOOLS FOR PICK-AND-PLACE OF NANOSCALE COMPONENTS

Abstract We present a high-aspect ratio three-beam electro-thermally actuated gripper made from single-crystalline, highly doped silicon, and compare the performance to a five-electrode electrostatic gripper in terms of actuation and manipulation capabilities. The electrothermal gripper can be configured in a number of different ways, which leads to a high degree of adaptability to various manipulation scenarios. Finally, we consider different options for customising the gripper microcantilevers by add-on nanotips.

Automated Micro Hall Effect measurements

With increasing complexity of processes and variety of materials used for semiconductor devices, stringent control of the electronic properties is becoming ever more relevant. Collinear micro four-point probe (M4PP) based measurement systems have become high-end metrology methods for characterization and monitoring of sheet resistance as well as sheet carrier density and mobility via the Micro Hall Effect (MHE) method.

Advanced characterization of carrier profiles in germanium using micro-machined contact probes

The accurate determination of the sheet resistance and carrier depth profile, i.e. active dopant profile, of shallow junction isolated structures involving new high mobility materials, such as germanium, is a crucial topic for future CMOS development. In this work, we discuss the capabilities of new concepts based on micro machined, closely spaced contact probes (10 μm pitch). When using four probes to perform sheet resistance measurements, a quantitative carrier profile extraction based on the evolution of the sheet resistance versus depth along a beveled surface is obtained. Considering the use of only two probes, a spreading resistance like setup is obtained with small spacing and drastically reduced electrical contact radii (∼10 nm) leading to a substantial reduction of the correction factors which are normally required for converting spreading resistance profiles. We demonstrate the properties of both approaches on Al+ implants in germanium with different anneal treatments.

In Situ Tuning of Focused-Ion-Beam Defined Nanomechanical Resonators Using Joule Heating

Nanomechanical resonators have a huge potential for a variety of applications, including high-resolution mass sensing. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel rapid prototyping method for fabricating nanoelectromechanical systems using focused-ion-beam milling as well as in situ electromechanical characterization using a transmission electron microscope. Nanomechanical resonators were cut out of thin membrane chips, which have been prefabricated using standard cleanroom processing. We have demonstrated the fabrication of double-clamped beams with feature sizes down to 200 nm using a fabrication time of 30 min per device. Afterwards, the dynamic and structural properties of a double-clamped beam were measured after subsequent Joule heating events in order to ascertain the dependence of the internal structure on the Q-factor and resonant frequency of the device. It was observed that a change from amorphous to polycrystalline silicon structure significantly increased the resonant frequency as well as the Q-factor of the nanomechanical resonator. Aside from allowing detailed studies of the correlation between internal structure and nanomechanical behavior on an individual rather than a statistical basis, the combination of a short turnaround time and in situ nonlithographic tuning of the properties provide a flexible approach to the development and prototyping of nanomechanical devices.