Ultra thin films for sensing and heating of microprobes

This dissertation aims to advance the current state of cantilevers with integrated metal thermal and deflection sensing elements. Metallic sensing elements enable the use of alternative substrate materials (such as polymers), that tend to exhibit higher compliance properties and are more robust (less brittle) compared to Si or Si3N4 cantilevers....

Characterization of room temperature metal microbolometers near the metal-insulator transition regime for scanning thermal microscopy

Metal microbolometers, used in scanning thermal microscopy, were microfabricated from <20?nm titanium thin films on SiO2/Si3N4/SiO2 cantilevers. These thin films are near the metal-insulator transition regime such that as the film thickness decreases—the resistance increases and the current-voltage characteristics cross over from sublinear to...