Micromachined cantilevers for chemical sensing

The aim of this paper is the description of the microfabrication procedure of cantilevers integrated on silicon chips. The particular geometry used in designing the cantilevers allows novel electronic measurements schemes which give more flexibility for detection of analytes. The geometry consists of a double rail structure which sustain the triangle shaped end of the cantilever. Furtherly particular tips integrated on the cantilever are presented which make the devices suitable for Kelvin probe microscopy. The device are fabricated using the "bulk micromachining" technology. An original technique has been developed in order to align a mask facing a front surface wafer with respect to a back surface pattern without the use of expensive double side mask aligner.