Abstract
In this thesis, we present the design, fabrication, and characterization of CMOS micromachined cantilevers for noncontact electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). The cantilevers consisting of multiple metal and dielectric layers are fabricated after completion of the convention CMOS process by dry etching steps. The cantilevers are electrostatically actuated to resonance in the out-of-plane direction. The frequency shift due to different electrostatic force is detected capacitively with on-chip circuitry, in which the modulation technique is used to eliminate the capacitive feedthrough from the driving port, and to lessen the effect of flicker noise. The resonant frequency of the cantilever is measured at about 18 KHz and the quality factor of 12.71 with different electrostatic force. The important purpose of this thesis is that the design and fabrication can be realized in a to the convention CMOS process.