NOVEL MICROMACHINED CANTILEVER SENSORS FOR SCANNING NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL MICROSCOPY

The reproducible micromachining of hollow metal tips on Si cantilevers and their applicability to scanning near-field optical microscopy (SN OM) is described. This sensor is fabricated using semiconductor compat ible technologies. A hollow metal pyramid is employed as an optical ap erture sensor for SNOM and simultaneously as a farce sensor for scanni ng force microscopy applications. Apertures down to 120 nm were realiz ed. To confirm the feasibility of the sensor we present measurements o n microstructured chromium films as well as on hot filament chemical v apour deposition grown (111) diamond membranes. The SNOM images show a resolution of about 100 nm, demonstrating the usefulness of these pro bes.