EP0772876A1 - Tete d'ecriture et de lecture fabriquee selon des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs a couplage de charge - Google Patents

Tete d'ecriture et de lecture fabriquee selon des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs a couplage de charge

Info

Publication number
EP0772876A1
EP0772876A1 EP95917982A EP95917982A EP0772876A1 EP 0772876 A1 EP0772876 A1 EP 0772876A1 EP 95917982 A EP95917982 A EP 95917982A EP 95917982 A EP95917982 A EP 95917982A EP 0772876 A1 EP0772876 A1 EP 0772876A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
tip
read
write head
shaft
holding part
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP95917982A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Thomas Bayer
Johann Greschner
Helga Weiss
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
International Business Machines Corp
Original Assignee
International Business Machines Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by International Business Machines Corp filed Critical International Business Machines Corp
Publication of EP0772876A1 publication Critical patent/EP0772876A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
    • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
    • B82Y10/00—Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
    • G11B9/00—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor
    • G11B9/12—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor using near-field interactions; Record carriers therefor
    • G11B9/14—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor using near-field interactions; Record carriers therefor using microscopic probe means, i.e. recording or reproducing by means directly associated with the tip of a microscopic electrical probe as used in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy [STM] or Atomic Force Microscopy [AFM] for inducing physical or electrical perturbations in a recording medium; Record carriers or media specially adapted for such transducing of information
    • G11B9/1409—Heads
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
    • G11B9/00—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor
    • G11B9/12—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor using near-field interactions; Record carriers therefor
    • G11B9/14—Recording or reproducing using a method not covered by one of the main groups G11B3/00 - G11B7/00; Record carriers therefor using near-field interactions; Record carriers therefor using microscopic probe means, i.e. recording or reproducing by means directly associated with the tip of a microscopic electrical probe as used in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy [STM] or Atomic Force Microscopy [AFM] for inducing physical or electrical perturbations in a recording medium; Record carriers or media specially adapted for such transducing of information
    • G11B9/1418—Disposition or mounting of heads or record carriers

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a read / write head for charge storage elements, which is manufactured micromechanically, and to a method for its production.
  • a number of new storage methods have been proposed, such as a nitride oxide silicon (NOS) storage element consisting of a silicon substrate and applied thin layers of oxide and nitride.
  • NOS nitride oxide silicon
  • charge is written into the thin nitride film using a fine tip.
  • an electrical pulse is applied between the tip and the silicon substrate, charge will flow through the thin oxide layer into the nitride and be held there. This can be called a write operation.
  • the information can also be read out or deleted.
  • storage densities of 30 Gbit / in 2 were achieved with charge area units of approximately 150 nm in diameter.
  • a memory element with an arrangement of a plurality of read / write heads is described in US Pat. No. 5,307,311.
  • the storage element consists of several support arms that store bits, and the read / write heads are arranged opposite the support arms.
  • the structure of the read / write heads is very similar to the known tips for scanning tunneling or atomic force microscopy. With this tip shape, the frequent direct contact with the surface of a charge storage element in long-term operation leads to signs of wear at the tip, which leads to a changed contact surface, so that the worn tip, compared to a perfect new tip, has a different force on the surface of a tip Charge storage element presses.
  • the object of the invention is to provide a micromechanically manufactured read / write head for charge storage elements, the tip of which is designed such that it can come into direct contact with the surface of a charge storage element for writing and reading information and also works reliably in long-term operation.
  • the micromechanically manufactured read / write head for charge storage elements consists of a holding part, a support arm and a tip with shaft and front end.
  • the holding part, support arm and tip are formed as an integrated part made of conductive material.
  • the front end of the tip is formed so that it can come into direct contact with the surface of a charge storage element for writing and reading information.
  • the shaft of the tip has a small diameter and is surrounded by a reinforcing sheath.
  • the method for producing read / write heads for charge storage elements comprises the following steps:
  • the shaft is thinned by thermal oxidation, in which an oxide layer completely enveloping these two parts grows simultaneously on the support arm and the holding part and the mask layer prevents oxidation at the front end of the tip. This ensures that the active surface and thus the contact surface pressure always remain the same when abrasion or abrasion cannot be completely excluded in the operating state.
  • the size of the the charge area unit representing information written in therefore always remains constant.
  • Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional representation of a read / write head with a two-layer reinforcing sheath
  • Fig. 4 is a representation of the arrangement with several read / write heads in a schematic cross section and
  • 5A, B and C illustrate the most important process steps for the production of the read / write heads.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the fabricated by micromechanical methods read / write head according to the invention for charge storage elements.
  • the head 1 is composed of a holding member 2, a bracket 3 and a tip 4 with the shaft 4a and the front end 4b.
  • Holding part 2, support arm 3 and tip 4 have been produced as an integrated part 5 made of conductive material.
  • Highly doped silicon which can be processed well with the known micromechanical methods, is particularly suitable for this.
  • the shaft 4a has a very small diameter and is surrounded by a reinforcing sheath 6.
  • the front end 4b of the tip which is intended to read and read information in direct contact with the charge storage element, must in no case be covered by the reinforcing sheath 6.
  • the tip shaft 4a and the actually active surface of the front tip end 4b are made as thin as possible, the tip would very easily bend or even break off without the reinforcing sheath 6 surrounding the shaft when writing or reading in contact with the charge storage element. In any case, a significant abrasion or abrasion would soon be expected.
  • the electrically conductive core or tip shank 4a should have no cross-sectional fluctuations over its entire length. Only then is it ensured that, in the event of abrasion or abrasion which cannot be completely excluded, the active surface and thus the contact surface pressure always remain the same. This also ensures that the size of the cargo area unit representing the inscribed information always remains constant. This means that the shaft 4a of the tip 4 should have side flanks which are as vertical as possible. With extremely small shaft diameters of less than 50 nm, at Ultrafine peaks have reached values below 20 nm, and for shaft lengths of approximately 20 ⁇ m this corresponds to a ratio of tip length to active tip diameter in the range of approximately 10,000.
  • FIGS. 5A, B and C The most important process steps for the production of the read / write heads are shown in FIGS. 5A, B and C. Many of the required process steps have already been described in detail in European Patent 0 413 040.
  • a mask layer is applied to a silicon substrate and the mask layer is structured using photolithographic processes to form a mask pattern 9.
  • the mask pattern is then transferred into the substrate to form the shaft 4a of a tip 4.
  • Reactive ion etching is particularly suitable for this process step.
  • the result of this process step can be seen in Fig. 5A.
  • the support arm 3 and a holding part 2 are formed from the same substrate.
  • the shaft 4a is thinned, the thinning in contrast to the thinning step in European Patent 0 413 040, where it is carried out by isotropic wet etching, here by thermal oxidation.
  • This thinning of the shaft 4a by thermal oxidation lets a silicon dioxide layer grow out of and on the previously formed shaft of the tip.
  • the shaft diameter on the one hand shrinks and on the other hand the thickness of the sheath 6 reinforcing the shaft increases accordingly.
  • the finer the active shaft area the more stable the surrounding oxide shell becomes.
  • the oxide shell can be up to several ⁇ m thick. Since thermal oxidation is one of the most controllable processes in micromechanics and microelectronics, this process step can achieve shaft diameters that are significantly smaller than 50 nm, and even less than approximately 20 nm.
  • the thick oxide sheath 6 In addition to the mechanical support function for the tip shaft 4a, the thick oxide sheath 6 also takes on the task of slowing down or even preventing material removal of the tip by abrasion or grinding when the surface of charge storage elements contacts.
  • the contact force is set primarily by the rigidity of the support arm 3.
  • the largest possible contact area therefore means less pressure and thus slower removal, abrasion or sanding.
  • the contact forces are, as in scanning tunneling or atomic force microscopy, around 10 -7 to 10 ⁇ 9 N. In scanning tunneling or atomic force microscopy, however, the pressure on the tip is much higher than in the read / write heads described here, whose front tip end is designed so that it can come into direct contact with the surfaces of charge storage. A short calculation example should prove this.
  • the pressing force is 10 "8 N and the tip cross-section (10 x 10) nm. This leads to a surface pressure of 10 2 N / mm 2.
  • the read / write head described here has a cross-sectional area of 3 x 3 ⁇ m. This leads to a Surface pressure of about 10 "3 N / mm 2 . The surface pressure is thus 10 5 times lower than with the tips for scanning tunneling or atomic force microscopy.
  • an oxide layer 6 completely enveloping these two parts also grows out of / on the support arm 3 and the holding part 2, as shown in FIG. 5B.
  • the mask layer 9 has to ensure that no oxidation takes place at the front end 4b of the tip 4 and is removed after the oxidation, FIG. 5C. It is therefore necessary to choose a very dense material that is impenetrable to oxygen molecules for the mask layer. Silicon nitride is particularly suitable.
  • the reinforcing sheath 6 can not only consist of an oxide layer, but can also be constructed from a plurality of dielectric layers 6a, 6b. Such a second or further covering layer prevents the tip from being abraded and worn even more reliably.
  • Diamond-like carbon which is the best of the known materials to be applied as a thin layer, is best suited for these second or further layers has abrasion-preventing properties.
  • the oxide layer or the plurality of dielectric layers can also be covered by a conductive layer, which is used, for example, for grounding purposes and allows improved electrical signal routing.
  • the mechanical holding part 2 has regions 7 which are not covered by the reinforcing sheath 6. These areas are used for electrical contacting of the read / write head and, if necessary, hybrid or monolithic control and evaluation electronics 8 can be applied in these areas. For this purpose, it is necessary to create contact openings in the dielectric or conductive layer 6b and in the thermal oxide layer 6a in the provided areas 7 of the holding part 2 to the silicon substrate.
  • FIG. 3 shows a representation of the arrangement with several read / write heads in a schematic cross section.
  • Support arm 3 and tip 4 of an individual read / write head 10 are each formed as an integrated part 50 made of conductive material and insulated from the common holding part 20.
  • the electrodes representing the individual read / write heads are insulated from the substrate, which can be achieved by means of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate in which two single-crystal silicon wafers are separated from one another by a thermal oxide.
  • SOI silicon-on-insulator

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Nanotechnology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Printers Or Recording Devices Using Electromagnetic And Radiation Means (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne une tête d'écriture et de lecture (1) fabriquée par des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs à couplage de charge, comprenant une partie de retenue (2), un bras de support (3) et une pointe (4) avec une tige (4a) et une extrémité antérieure (4b). La partie de retenue (2), le bras de support (3) et la pointe (4) forment une partie intégrée (5) en matériau conducteur. L'extrémité antérieure (4b) de la pointe (4) peut entrer en contact direct avec la surface d'un dispositif à couplage de charge pour écrire et lire des informations. La tige (4a) de la pointe (4) a un diamètre réduit et est entourée d'une gaine de renforcement (6).
EP95917982A 1995-04-29 1995-04-29 Tete d'ecriture et de lecture fabriquee selon des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs a couplage de charge Withdrawn EP0772876A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/EP1995/001640 WO1996035212A1 (fr) 1995-04-29 1995-04-29 Tete d'ecriture et de lecture fabriquee selon des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs a couplage de charge

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0772876A1 true EP0772876A1 (fr) 1997-05-14

Family

ID=8166009

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP95917982A Withdrawn EP0772876A1 (fr) 1995-04-29 1995-04-29 Tete d'ecriture et de lecture fabriquee selon des techniques de micro-usinage pour dispositifs a couplage de charge

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0772876A1 (fr)
DE (1) DE19614072A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO1996035212A1 (fr)

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5938652B2 (ja) * 1980-03-14 1984-09-18 日本ビクター株式会社 静電容量値の変化検出型再生素子の再生針
JPS5769504A (en) * 1980-10-15 1982-04-28 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd Structure of scanning stylus
EP0194323B1 (fr) * 1985-03-07 1989-08-02 International Business Machines Corporation Microscope à balayage à effet tunnel
DE3679319D1 (de) * 1986-05-27 1991-06-20 Ibm Speichereinheit mit direktem zugriff.
DE69127379T2 (de) * 1990-01-11 1998-03-19 Canon K.K., Tokio/Tokyo Mikrosonde, Herstellungsverfahren zur Herstellung derselben und Informations-Eingabe- und/oder Ausgabe-Gerät welches dieselbe verwendet
US5216631A (en) * 1990-11-02 1993-06-01 Sliwa Jr John W Microvibratory memory device
US5609948A (en) * 1992-08-21 1997-03-11 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Laminate containing diamond-like carbon and thin-film magnetic head assembly formed thereon
US5734519A (en) * 1993-03-25 1998-03-31 International Business Machines Corporation Contact magnetic recording disk file with improved head assembly

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9635212A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE19614072A1 (de) 1996-10-31
WO1996035212A1 (fr) 1996-11-07

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