Atomic force microscope cantilevers for combined thermomechanical data writing and reading

Heat conduction governs the ultimate writing and reading capabilities of a thermomechanical data storage device. This work investigates transient heat conduction in a resistively heated atomic force microscope cantilever thro ugh measurement and simulation of cantilever thermal and electrical behavio r. The time required to heat a single cantilever to bit-writing temperature is near 1 mus and the thermal data reading sensitivity DeltaR/R is near 1 x 10(-4) per vertical nm. Finite-difference thermal and electrical simulati on results compare well with electrical measurements during writing and rea ding, indicating design tradeoffs in power requirements, data writing speed , and data reading sensitivity. We present a design for a proposed cantilev er that is predicted to be faster and more sensitive than the present canti lever. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.