Giovanni Valdrè and Daniele Moro 2008 Nanotechnology 19 405502 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/19/40/405502
Giovanni Valdrè and Daniele Moro
Show affiliationsThis paper deals with an application of 3D finite element analysis to the electrostatic interaction between (i) a commercial rectangular shaped cantilever (with an integrated anisotropic pyramidal tip) and a conductive sample, when a voltage difference is applied between them, and (ii) a focused ion beam (FIB) modified cantilever in order to realize a probe with reduced parasitic electrostatic force. The 3D modelling of their electrostatic deflection was realized by using multiphysics finite element analysis software and applied to the real geometry of the cantilevers and probes as used in conventional electric and Kelvin force microscopy to evaluate the contribution of the various part of a cantilever to the total force, and derive practical criteria to optimize the probe performances. We report also on the simulation of electrostatic shielding of nanometric features, in order to quantitatively evaluate an alternative way of reducing the systematic error caused by the cantilever-to-sample capacitive coupling. Finally, a quantitative comparison between the performances of rectangular and triangular cantilevers (part I of this work) is reported.
07.10.Cm Micromechanical devices and systems
02.70.Dh Finite-element and Galerkin methods
85.85.+j Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices
Issue 40 (8 October 2008)
Received 8 April 2008, in final form 8 July 2008
Published 20 August 2008
Giovanni Valdrè and Daniele Moro 2008 Nanotechnology 19 405502
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