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A MEMS Electrostatic Resonator for a Fast-Scan STM System
 
Authors: Hsin-Hong Shen, Bo-Ting Liao
 
Abstract:
In this work, we report the development of a MEMS electrostatic resonator used as the actuator for a fast-scan STM system (FS-STM). The FS-STM requires an actuator which can oscillate with a relatively large amplitude (>3 mm) at a resonant frequency of larger than 10 kHz, which cannot be achieved by using piezoelectric actuators. Under ambient pressure, the measurement results show that the oscillating amplitude of the proposed electrostatic actuator is about 3.1 mm at 11.8 kHz. This resonator will be used to generate the scanning motion of the tip in lateral direction, which might significantly improve the scanning rate of a typical radio-frequency STM.

 
 
Fig. 1. (a) The AFM/STM system. (b) Schematic of the MEMS-based electrostatic resonator.
 
 
Fig. 2. The SEM pictures of the fabricated device: (a) The resonator, (b) The comb-drive actuators, (c) The folded beam, and (d) The cantilever beam.
 
Publication:
H.-H. Liao, H.-H. Shen, B.-T. Liao, Y.-C. Chen, W.-W. Pai, and Y.-J. Yang, "A MEMS-based Electrostatic Resonator Used for the Application of Fast-Scanning Scanning Tunneling Microscopy," IEEE-NEMS 2010, Xiamen, China, Jan. 20-23, 2010

   

 
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