Atomic force microscope using a diamond tip: A tool for micro/nano-machining on single crystal silicon surface

When the AFM cantilever is mounted with a sharp diamond tip, in addition to controlling both the applied normal load on the tip and other machining parameters by the AFM electrical components, it is capable of conducting micro/nano-machining on the surface of single crystal silicon. Firstly in this research work the diamond tip based single asperity cutting experiments are conducted on silicon surface with different normal loads and cutting speed, in aiming to investigate the AFM based microcutting process and material removal mechanism for silicon-like brittle material on nanoscale. Secondly, the micro/nano-machining experiments are conducted on single crystal silicon surface with different detecting approaches for characterizing the features of the micro/nano-machined region in terms of material removal mechanism and chips forming characteristic under different normal loads. Furthermore, the contact interaction mechanism existed between the AFM diamond tip and the machined silicon surface during the micro/nano-machining process is simulated with finite element method. Finally, the wear mechanism of an atomic force microscope (AFM) diamond tip when conducting micro/nano-machining on a single crystal silicon surface is empirically analyzed. The results indicate that the AFM based micro/nano-machining has a precisely dimensional controllability and a good surface quality on nanometer scale.