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Tuning the spring constant of cantilever-free tip arrays
Daniel J Eichelsdoerfer1, Keith A Brown, Radha Boya
1Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Abstract:
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.
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