Multi-Probe Atomic Force Microscopy Using Piezoelectric Cantilevers

We developed a multi-probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) system using piezoelectric thin film (PZT) cantilevers. The use of self-sensing cantilevers with integrated deflection sensors as probes markedly reduced complexity in the ordinary AFM setup. Address-patterned samples having microfabricated x-y coordinate patterns, fabricated by electron beam lithography, were developed as well. These samples allow us to evaluate the relative distance between the probes by the comparison of the images obtained. Although the minimum distance between these probes was 126 μm using the original cantilevers, it was reduced to 9.2 μm by using the PZT cantilevers modified by a focused ion beam. Furthermore, we found that the interaction forces between the cantilevers were detected by determining the change in the amplitude of each cantilever.