An integrated optical waveguide micro-cantilever system for chip-based AFM

An optical waveguide cantilever system with a tip is introduced as the displacement detection system of chip-based atomic force microscopy (AFM) system. A chip-based AFM on optical waveguide is demonstrated with sensitivity of up to 4.0 × 10^-2 nm^-1 , which is mainly constructed by a 210 nm thick optical waveguide cantilever with a nano-tip. The nano-tip is a height of 1.2 μm and diameter of 140 nm. This integrated on-chip system provides a displacement range of approximately ±0.4 μm, which makes it possible for the device to be used for AFM imaging and pays the way for further performance improvement.