Silicon single-crystal probe

For the manufacture a cylindrical silicon single crystal is first sawed to produce the outer windows. In a second step the probe room is drilled out After final polishing of the inner and outer windows the cell can be fixed with only one lead gasket to the cryostat body. It is essential that the cell frame is made from Vacodil 36. This steel has nearly the same coefficient of expansion as silicon and allows the gas-tight connection between the cell and the cryostat body (see Fig. 1). 

In this study, we clarified these friction-reduction effects under microload conditions by measuring the friction and pull-off forces for two-dimensional asperity arrays on silicon plates. First, two-dimensional asperity arrays were created using a focused ion bean (FIB) system to mill patterns on single-crystal silicon plates. Each silicon plate had several different patterns of equally spaced asperities. Then, the friction and pull-off forces were measured using an atomic force microscope (AFM) that had a square, flat probe. This report describes the geometry effects of creating asperity arrays and the chanical effects of depositing LB films or SAMs on the friction and puU-off forces. 

In addition to the deep boron-diffiision process to define silicon probe shape used in Michigan probes, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has also been used to fabricate planar silicon-based microelectrode arrays [22]. The top single-crystal silicon device layer of an SOI wafer is separated from the silicon substrate by a dielectric layer. This dielectric is typically silicon dioxide from 1 to 2 jim in thickness. In this fabrication process, the probe thickness is defined by the device layer of the... 

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