Nanomanufacturing and System Integration of Multi-Functional Metallic Pyramidal Probes

光学显微镜和光谱学的分辨率仅限于光波长的一半，通常约为200至250纳米。科学家们可以使用尖锐的金属尖端作为天线来克服这一限制，将光聚焦到光学近场，收集有关其他方法无法获得的纳米级光-物质相互作用的关键信息。用于近场应用的当前最先进的尖端一次制造一个，是易碎的，并且具有粗糙的表面。这些制造不一致性限制了分辨率，并且通常给出不可再现的结果。该项目的目标是制造、集成、表征和传播新一代金属探针。传播可重复的，高性能的，多功能的探针将民主化的访问高分辨率近场光学显微镜和光谱，并使其在用户设施的使用，促进这项技术从少数专家的领域，以普遍使用。该研究小组将使用一种称为模板剥离的高通量制造技术，用于可重复的晶圆级生产纳米级尖锐的贵金属金字塔尖端。硅的晶体取向依赖性湿法蚀刻将用于限定原子级光滑的模板，金或银将沉积到该模板中。然后，使用环氧树脂剥离金属，露出超光滑、亚纳米粗糙度的背面。由此产生的超光滑金属金字塔减轻寄生随机热点，特有的其他金属化技术，并促进光能传递和集中在尖端。强大的封装方法将开发这些探针与扫描探针显微镜系统集成。这些扫描探针固定的金属金字塔将在原子力显微镜中进行质量控制，增强标准样品的光谱信号，同时获取地形图像。详细的制造和包装方案将发表在同行评审的期刊上，并应要求提供给研究人员。这将使近场显微镜和光谱学从少数专家使用的困难利基技术转变为广泛的常规表征方法，许多研究人员在纳米技术，材料科学，化学和生物学等广泛的学科中采用。

Optical microscopy and spectroscopy is limited in resolution to roughly half the wavelength of light, generally about 200 to 250 nanometers. Scientists can overcome this limit using a sharp metal tip as an antenna to focus light into the optical near-field, gleaning crucial information about nanoscale light-matter interactions inaccessible by other methods. Current state-of-the-art tips for near field applications are fabricated one at a time, are fragile, and have rough surfaces. These manufacturing inconsistencies limit resolution and often give irreproducible results. The objective of this project is to manufacture, integrate, characterize, and disseminate a new generation of metal probes. Dissemination of reproducible, high-performance, and multi-functional probes will democratize access to high-resolution near-field optical microscopy and spectroscopy and enable its use in user facilities, promoting this technology from the realm of a few experts to general use. The research team will use a high-throughput manufacturing technique known as template stripping for reproducible, wafer-scale production of nanometrically sharp, noble metal pyramidal tips. Crystalline-orientation-dependent wet etching of silicon will be used to define an atomically smooth template, into which gold or silver will be deposited. The metal will then be stripped off, using epoxy, exposing the ultra-smooth, sub-nanometer roughness, backside surface. The resulting ultrasmooth metal pyramids mitigate parasitic random hotspots, endemic to other metallization techniques, and promote optical energy delivery to and concentration at the tip. Robust packaging methods will be developed to integrate these probes with scanning probe microscopy systems. These scanning-probe-affixed metal pyramids will be quality controlled in an atomic force microscope, enhancing spectroscopic signals from standard samples while simultaneously acquiring topographic images. Detailed manufacturing and packaging protocols will be published in peer-reviewed journals and provided to researchers upon request. This will transform near-field microscopy and spectroscopy from a difficult niche technique used by a small number of specialists to a widespread, routine characterization method adopted by many researchers in broad range of disciplines such as nanotechnology, materials science, chemistry, and biology.