Tuning the Spring Constant of Cantilever-Free Tip Arrays

Daniel J. Eichelsdoerfer †‡, Keith A. Brown †‡, Radha Boya ‡§, Wooyoung Shim ‡§, and Chad A. Mirkin *†‡§

^†Department of Chemistry, ^‡International Institute for Nanotechnology, and ^§Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States

Nano Lett., Article ASAP

DOI: 10.1021/nl304268u

Publication Date (Web): January 3, 2013

Copyright © 2013 American Chemical Society

A method to measure and tune the spring constant of tips in a cantilever-free array by adjusting the mechanical properties of the elastomeric layer on which it is based is reported. Using this technique, large-area silicon tip arrays are fabricated with spring constants tuned ranging from 7 to 150 N/m. To illustrate the benefit of utilizing a lower spring constant array, the ability to pattern on a delicate 50 nm silicon nitride substrate is explored