Conclusion and future work

Abstract

In this work, the design, fabrication and testing of advanced silicon micromachined cantilevers for high-density AFM thermomechanical data storage was accomplished. Three types of cantilevers were fabricated to provide the functionality of three major components in a AFM thermomechanical data storage system: a vertically sensitive readback sensor, a thermal writing head, and a tracking mechanism based on a lateral force sensor. These three components are based on micromachined elements with integrated sensing/heating capability, and eliminates the need for bulky external accessories such as lasers. The results of this work represent a major step towards the development of a compact, low-cost, high-density data storage device.