Near field scanning probe microscope, probe for scanning probe microscope, and sample observation method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10877065-B2
Application number	US-201916520571-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2019
Priority date	Jun 21, 2017
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

A near-field scanning probe includes: a measurement probe that relatively scans a test sample; an excitation light irradiation system; a near-field light generation system that generates near-field light in a region including the measurement probe in response to irradiation with excitation light from the excitation light irradiation system; and a scattered light detection system that detects Rayleigh scattering and Ramen scattered light of the near-field light from the sample, generated between the measurement probe and the sample, and the near-field scanning probe is characterized in that the near-field light generation system includes a cantilever with a chip coated with a noble metal, and a tip of the chip is provided with a thin wire group including a plurality of carbon nanowires with a noble metal provided at ends thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cantilever for a scanning probe microscope,
wherein the scanning probe microscope comprises an excitation laser light irradiation system irradiating an excitation laser light and a piezoelectric element actuator,
the cantilever comprising:
a chip coated with a noble metal; and
an arm,
wherein:
the arm includes a first portion and a second portion bent from the first portion, the first portion is toward the piezoelectric element actuator, and the second portion extends from the first portion to the chip,
an upper surface of the second portion has a light entrance slope, the excitation laser light incident to the light entrance slope,
a lower surface of the second portion has a noble metal coated slope,
the second portion has a base layer and a noble metal thin film over the base layer and disposed on the noble metal coated slope, a material of the base layer is silicon or silicon based material,
when the excitation laser light is incident upon the light entrance slope, a surface plasmon is propagated toward the chip on the noble metal thin film disposed on the noble metal coated slope,
a thickness of the base layer increases from the first portion of the arm to the chip, and
a shape of the chip is a pyramid.

2. The cantilever according to claim 1 ,
wherein the noble metal thin film is thinner than the base layer.

3. A scanning probe microscope comprising:
the excitation laser light irradiation system;
the piezoelectric element actuator; and
the cantilever according to claim 1 .

4. The cantilever according to claim 1 ,
wherein the noble metal is gold or silver.

5. The cantilever according to claim 1 ,
wherein a thickness of the noble metal thin film is between 30 to 70 nm.

Assignees

• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• Zhang Kaifeng
• Taniguchi Shinichi

Classifications

• G01Q60/22 Primary

  Probes, their manufacture, or their related instrumentation, e.g. holders · CPC title

• G01Q60/18 Primary

  SNOM [Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy] or apparatus therefor, e.g. SNOM probes · CPC title

• C01B32/18

  Nanoonions; Nanoscrolls; Nanohorns; Nanocones; Nanowalls · CPC title

• G01Q70/12

  Nanotube tips · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title