Bridge configuration of piezoresistive devices for scanning force microscopes

The piezoresistive sensor components are directly integrated on commercially available cantilevers taken out of the production line of Nanosensors GmbH (O. Wolter, Th. Bayer, J. Greschner, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 9(2) (1991) 1353). They consist of four implanted semiconductor resistors that are connected to form a bridge. The process parameters have been varied to achieve ultimate sensitivity. Experimentally, a vertical spatial resolution of ± 0.025 nm was achieved in scanning experiments within a bandwidth of 10 kHz. Furthermore, such piezoresistive sensors with magnetic tips are successfully used for magnetic force microscopy.