Fabrication and Characterization of Carbon Cantilevers Derived from Photoresists

Abstract

Carbon has superior characteristics over silicon that is widely used in nano- and micro- fabrication. The carbon cantilevers in this study are converted from positive and negative photoresist materials. Three approaches were studied to measure Young’s modulus $(E)$ of carbon film. The vibration method has displayed its suitability for the pyrolyzed carbon film characterization with remarkable frequency difference of the carbon cantilevers. The carbon films derived from the two photoresist materials both have the E value lower than that of glassy carbon. The $2 \mu \mathrm{m}$ thick cantilever derived from AZ of length at $100 \mu \mathrm{m}$ and width at $50 \mu \mathrm{m}$ has a resonant frequency of 27KHz in air with a sharp peak. Even though initiated at a low frequency, the low E carbon cantilever has shown a series of sharp vibration response. The carbon cantilever structure is expected to be a good candidate for making energy harvesters and sensors.