WARF: P06239US
Diamond-Like Carbon-Coated Nanoprobes

INVENTORS

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Robert Carpick, Kumar Sridharan, Anirudha Sumant

The atomic force microscope (AFM) images materials on an atomic scale by making controlled contact with a probe tip attached to the end of a flexible cantilever. However, imaging hard or adhesive materials presents a challenge because the tip wears out or becomes contaminated. In addition, although AFM tips are being considered for use in nanofabrication and nanomechanical data storage, the tip material, which has thus far been restricted to a few materials such as silicon or silicon nitride, limits their potential applications. To make these probe tips effective tools for future nanotechnologies, they must be coated with a thin film of a material with useful properties. UW-Madison researchers have developed novel AFM cantilever tips coated with a diamond-like carbon film. The coating is produced via a two-step plasma immersion ion implantation deposition (PIIID) process. First, the surface of the nanoprobe tip is modified with a carbon implantation layer that promotes bonding between the next diamond-like layer and the nanoprobe. Then, the diamond-like carbon film is deposited on the implantation layer. Alternatively, the coating may be directly deposited onto the nanoprobe surface.

• Atomic force microscopy
• Scanning probe microscopy
• Nanomachining
• Nanotribology
• Nanolithography
• Metrology
• Studies of bio-functionalized materials.

• Coated tips are hard, mechanically robust, wear-resistant and chemically inert.
• Tips show low friction and adhesion with most materials.
• Coating is thin (less than 20 nm) to retain the small size of the AFM tip.
• Film conforms to the contours of the tip and is extremely smooth, so it does not compromise the tip’s geometric integrity.
• Coating is uniformly deposited on the surface of the three-dimensional nanoprobe tip, without requiring manipulation of the nanoprobe.
• Deposition process is commercially viable and capable of coating thousands of tips in less than five minutes.
• Method does not require heating, so it does not distort the tips or film.
• Films may consist of non-conventional materials.
• Elements, such as silicon, fluorine or metals, may be added to the coating to alter its electrical conductivity, surface energy and other properties.
• Films are well suited for use on silicon and silicon nitride tips, and are generally applicable to other nanoprobe materials.
• Tips are thermally stable up to 300ºC, making them useful for applications like nanoscale thermo-mechanical data storage.
• Diamond-like carbon is biocompatible, allowing its use for the study of biological specimens.
• The diamond-like film can be chemically or biologically functionalized for stable chemical force microscopy studies.

For current licensing status, please contact our team at licensing@warf.org or phone 608.262.4924. (Clicking this link will open a contact form in a popup window. If you have problems viewing the form, try disabling your popup blocker software.)