Batch fabrication of insulated conductive scanning probe microscopy probes with reduced capacitive coupling

•Insulated conductive SPM probes for electrical measurement of soft samples in liquid.•Geometry of the conductor is engineered to reduce the parasitic capacitance coupling.•Stray capacitances from cantilever and chip have been reduced to non-detectable limit.•Parasitic C coupling to substrate significantly reduced compared to metallized probes.

We report a novel fabrication process for the batch fabrication of insulated conductive scanning probe microscopy (SPM) probes for electrical and topographic characterization of soft samples in liquid media at the nanoscale. The whole SPM probe structure is insulated with a dielectric material except at the very tip end and at the contact pad area to minimize the leakage current in liquid. Additionally, the geometry of the conducting layer in the probe cantilever and substrate is engineered to reduce the parasitic capacitance coupling with the sample. The electrical characterization of the probes has shown that parasitic capacitances are significantly reduced as compared to fully metallized cantilevers.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide