Simple and reliable method of conductive SPM probe fabrication using carbon nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, reliable method for fabricating conductive SPM probes using a single multi-walled carbon nanotube attached to a silicon cantilever, enabling consistent and durable conductive probes for microscopy.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel electrophoresis-based technique for attaching carbon nanotubes to probes and demonstrate a method for shaping and modifying the probes using a dimpled aluminium sample.

Findings

Probes are reliably conductive with stable conductivity over hours.

The method allows for precise shaping and modification of the probes.

Probes are suitable for contact and modulation SPM imaging.

Abstract

We demonstrate the procedure of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) conductive probe fabrication with a single multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) on a silicon cantilever pyramid. The nanotube bundle reliably attached to the metal-covered pyramid is formed using electrophoresis technique from the MWNT suspension. It is shown that the dimpled aluminium sample can be used both for shortening/modification of the nanotube bundle by applying pulse voltage between the probe and the sample, and for controlling the probe shape via Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging the sample. It allows to fabricate a probe suitable for SPM imaging in the contact and modulation regimes. The majority of such probes are conductive with conductivity not degrading within hours of SPM imaging.