Cantilever and cantilever manufacturing method

Abstract

A cantilever includes: a lever portion; a holder portion supporting the proximal end of the lever portion; a probe portion arranged at the distal end of the lever portion and having a spherical surface to face a sample; and a retaining portion fixed to the distal end of the lever portion and retaining the probe portion to surround a periphery of the probe portion. There is provided a cantilever allowing mounting of a probe portion with little effect in a short time without using any adhesive.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cantilever according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating a process of manufacturing the cantilever shown in FIG. 1, of which FIG. 5A is a diagram showing how SPM observation is conducted while performing scanning with a lever portion on a substrate on which a probe portion is placed, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing how, after the SPM observation of FIG. 5A, the lever portion is moved to a position over the probe portion whose position has been located through the SPM observation, FIG. 5C is a diagram showing how the probe portion is forced into a retaining portion to be retained therein;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the probe portion forced into the retaining portion;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever having a probe portion of an elliptical sectional configuration;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top view of a cantilever according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a modification of the second embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever with a communication hole formed so as to be situated on a surface of a lever portion;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a top view of a cantilever according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is a top view of a cantilever according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a side view of a modification of a fourth embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever with a probe portion of an elliptical sectional configuration;

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view of a cantilever according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a side view showing how ambient temperature is raised to expand a variable portion, making an opening size at the other end larger than a diameter of the probe portion;

FIG. 23 is a top view of a cantilever according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a top view of a modification of the sixth embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever equipped with a plurality of straight claw portions with turn-up portions at the other ends;

FIG. 26 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a top view of a cantilever according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a side view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a process of manufacturing the cantilever shown in FIG. 27, showing how the lever portion is moved to a position over the probe portion whose position has been located through SPM observation;

FIG. 30 is a side view of a modification of the seventh embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever having a magnet mounted to a back surface of the lever portion thereof;

FIG. 31 is a top view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a side view of a modification of the seventh embodiment of the present invention, showing a cantilever having an electromagnet mounted to a back surface of the lever portion thereof; and

FIG. 33 is a top view of the cantilever shown in FIG. 32.

Claims

1. A cantilever, comprising: a lever portion with spring property, which has an opposing surface facing a sample and extends in one direction from a proximal end to a distal end;a holder portion supporting the proximal end of the lever portion in an overhanging manner;a probe portion which is capable of coming into contact with the sample while arranged at the distal end of the lever portion and at least whose opposing surface facing the sample is formed in a spherical configuration of a predetermined radius; anda retaining portion whose one end is fixed to the distal end of the lever portion and which retains the probe portion with the opposing surface exposed,wherein the retaining portion has on an inner side thereof a contact surface held in contact with an outer surface of the probe portion while arranged to surround a periphery of the probe portion, andwherein the probe portion is retained by a chemical binding force directly exerted between the contact surface and the outer surface.

2. A cantilever according to claim 1, wherein the retaining portion is formed as a cylinder at least apart of an inner peripheral surface of which constitutes the contact surface, andwherein the retaining portion has at another end thereof an opening of a size equal to or smaller than a diameter of the probe portion.

3. A cantilever according to claim 2, wherein, at least one of the retaining portion and the lever portion is provided with a communication hole formed therein for establishing communication between an interior and an exterior of the cylinder and allowing a compressed inner fluid to be discharged to the exterior when the probe portion is inserted.

4. A cantilever according to claim 2, wherein the retaining portion has a plurality of slits formed in a circumferential direction.

5. A cantilever according to claim 2, wherein at least a part of the retaining portion is formed of a shape-memory material and is expanded and contracted by an external factor, and wherein the size of the opening at the another end of the retaining portion is changed to become larger than the diameter of the probe portion as the retaining portion undergoes expansion and contraction to thereby make the probe portion detachable.

6. A cantilever according to claim 1, wherein the retaining portion is formed of a plurality of claw portions surrounding the periphery of the probe portion at predetermined intervals and each having a contact surface.

7. A cantilever according to claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of claw portions has at another end thereof a hook-like turn-up portion.

8. A cantilever according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of claw portions are previously urged to be deflected toward a center of the probe portion.

9. A cantilever, comprising: a lever portion with spring property, which has an opposing surface facing a sample and extends in one direction from a proximal end to a distal end;a holder portion supporting the proximal end of the lever portion in an overhanging manner;a probe portion which is formed of a magnetic material, which is capable of coming into contact with the sample while arranged at the distal end of the lever portion, and at least whose opposing surface facing the sample is formed in a spherical configuration of a predetermined radius; andan attracting portion provided at the distal end of the lever portion and adapted to attract the probe portion by utilizing a magnetic force.

10. A cantilever according to claim 9, wherein the attracting portion allows detachment of the probe portion through reversal of the polarity of the magnetic force.

11. A method of manufacturing a cantilever equipped with: a lever portion with spring property, which has an opposing surface facing a sample and extends in one direction from a proximal end to a distal end; a holder portion supporting the proximal end of the lever portion in an overhanging manner; a probe portion which is capable of coming into contact with the sample while arranged at the distal end of the lever portion and at least whose opposing surface facing the sample is formed in a spherical configuration of a predetermined radius; and a retaining portion whose one end is fixed to the distal end of the lever portion and which retains the probe portion with the opposing surface exposed, the method comprising:an immersing step in which, after being integrally formed, the holder portion and the lever portion are immersed in a photo-setting resin for stereo lithography;a stereo lithography step in which, after the immersing step, a laser beam is applied to the distal end of the lever portion to locally cure a portion of the photo-setting resin situated at the focus of a laser beam, and in which the laser beam is moved so that a focal position is moved along a desired three-dimensional pattern to successively cure the photo-setting resin to thereby prepare the retaining portion by stereo lithography so that the retaining portion exhibits on an inner side thereof a contact surface held in contact with an outer surface of the probe portion while arranged to surround a periphery of the probe portion;a setting step in which, after the stereo lithography step, the lever portion with one end of the retaining portion fixed thereto and the holder portion are extracted from the photo-setting resin and in which another end of the retaining portion is situated at a position over the probe portion; anda retaining step in which, after the setting step, the probe portion is forced into the retaining portion from the another end of the retaining portion so that the opposing surface is exposed to a side of the sample, and in which the probe portion is retained by a chemical binding force directly exerted between the outer surface of the probe portion and the contact surface of the retaining portion.

12. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 11, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, the retaining portion is formed as a cylinder at least a part of an inner peripheral surface of which constitutes the contact surface and the another end of which has an opening whose size is equal to or smaller than a diameter of the probe portion.

13. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 12, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, at least one of the retaining portion and the lever portion is provided with a communication hole formed therein for establishing communication between an interior and an exterior of the cylinder and allowing a compressed inner fluid to be discharged to the exterior when the probe portion is inserted.

14. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 12, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, the retaining portion is prepared so that a plurality of slits are exhibited to be arranged in a circumferential direction.

15. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 12, wherein a shape-memory material is used as the photo-setting resin, andwherein at least a part of the retaining portion is caused to undergo expansion and contraction by an external factor and to effect a change with the expansion and contraction so that the size of the opening at the another end of the retaining portion is made larger than the diameter of the probe portion to thereby make the probe portion detachable.

16. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 11, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, the retaining portion is formed as a plurality of claw portions surrounding the periphery of the probe portion at predetermined intervals and each having the contact surface.

17. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 16, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, a hook-like turn-up portion is formed at the another end of each of the plurality of claw portions.

18. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 16, wherein, in the stereo lithography step, the plurality of claw portions are formed in a previously urged state to be deflected toward a center of the probe portion.

19. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 11, wherein the setting step includes: a placing step in which the probe portion is placed on a substrate; anda locating step in which, after the placing step, scanning is performed on the substrate on which the probe portion is placed with the lever portion to perform SPM observation on a surface configuration of the probe portion and to locate a position of the probe portion, andwherein, after the locating step, the another end of the retaining portion is set on the probe portion whose position has been located.

20. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 11, wherein, prior to the setting step, a modifying step is conducted in which the probe portion is previously modified with a predetermined substance.

21. A method of manufacturing a cantilever equipped with: a lever portion with spring property, which has an opposing surface facing a sample and extends in one direction from a proximal end to a distal end; a holder portion supporting the proximal end of the lever portion in an overhanging manner; and a probe portion which is capable of coming into contact with the sample while arranged at the distal end of the lever portion and at least whose opposing surface facing the sample is formed in a spherical configuration of a predetermined radius, the method comprising: a placing step in which the probe portion is placed on a substrate after forming the holder portion and the lever portion integrally;a locating step in which, after the placing step, scanning is performed on the substrate on which the probe portion is placed with the lever portion to perform SPM observation on a surface configuration of the probe portion and to locate a position of the probe portion;a setting step in which, after the locating step, the distal end of the lever portion is situated on the probe portion whose position has been located; anda fixing step in which, after the setting step, the probe portion is fixed to a predetermined position at the distal end of the lever portion.

22. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 21, wherein the probe portion is formed of a magnetic material, andwherein, in the fixing step, the probe portion is fixed to the lever portion by utilizing a magnetic force.

23. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 21, wherein, in the fixing step, the lever portion is caused to make an ultrasonic oscillation, andwherein the probe portion is fixed in position through heat bonding by utilizing heat generated by the ultrasonic oscillation.

24. A method of manufacturing a cantilever according to claim 21, wherein, prior to the placing step, a modifying step is conducted in which the probe portion is previously modified with a predetermined substance.

25. A cantilever, comprising: a lever;a probe positioned at the distal end of the lever and having a spherical surface to face a sample; anda retaining portion fixed to the distal end of the lever and retaining the probe to surround a periphery of the probe.

26. A cantilever, comprising: a lever;a probe positioned at the distal end of the lever and having a spherical surface to face a sample; anda plurality of claws fixed to the distal end of the lever and retaining the prove to crimp a periphery of the probe.

27. A cantilever, comprising: a lever;a probe positioned at the distal end of the lever and having a spherical surface to face a sample; anda magnetic body fixed to the distal end of the lever and attracting the prove to hold the probe by a magnetic force.

28. A cantilever, comprising: a lever;a probe positioned at the distal end of the lever and having a spherical surface to face a sample; anda electromagnet fixed to the distal end of the lever and attracting the prove to hold the probe by a magnetic force.