GaN nanowire tip for high aspect ratio nano-scale AFM metrology(Conference Presentation)

In this study we introduce Gallium Nitride (GaN) nanowire (NW) as high aspect ratio tip with excellent durability for nano-scale metrology. GaN NWs have superior mechanical property and young modulus compare to commercial Si and Carbon tips which results in having less bending issue during measurement. The GaN NWs are prepared via two different methods: i) Catalyst-free selected area growth, using Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), ii) top-down approach by employing Au nanoparticles as the mask material in dry-etch process. To achieve small diameter tips, the semipolar planes of the NWs grown by MOCVD are etched using AZ400k. The diameter of the NWs fabricated using the top down process is controlled by using different size of nanoparticles and by Inductively Coupled Plasma etching. NWs with various diameters were manipulated on Si cantilevers using Focus Ion Beam (FIB) to make tips for AFM measurement. A Si (110) substrate containing nano-scale grooves with vertical 900 walls were used as a sample for inspection. AFM measurements were carried out in tapping modes for both types of nanowires (top-down and bottom-up grown nanowires) and results are compared with conventional Si and carbon nanotube tips. It is shown our fabricated tips are robust and have improved edge resolution over conventional Si tips. GaN tips made with NW’s fabricated using our top down method are also shown to retain the gold nanoparticle at tip, which showed enhanced field effects in Raman spectroscopy.