PROBE PRODUCTION METHOD AND SURFACE OBSERVATION METHOD
This probe production method is a method of producing a probe ( 101 ) having a coating layer ( 104 ) on a surface thereof, in which the coating layer ( 104 ) is formed on a surface of a base material ( 103 ) having a sharp tip end portion ( 103 a ) using a gas phase method.
1 . A method of producing a probe having a coating layer on a surface thereof, comprising: forming the coating layer on a surface of a base material having a sharp tip end portion using a gas phase method.
2 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 1 , wherein a high-frequency plasma treatment method is used as the gas phase method.
3 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 2 , wherein, in the high-frequency plasma treatment method, a gas containing at least one type of fluorocarbon is used as a raw material gas.
4 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the coating layer is 100 Å or less.
5 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 1 , further comprising: a pretreatment step of pretreating the surface of the base material before performing the gas phase method, wherein the pretreatment step includes performing any treatment selected from the group consisting of a sputtering treatment, a corona treatment, a UV ozone irradiation treatment, and an oxygen plasma treatment.
6 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 2 , wherein the high-frequency plasma treatment method is performed in a plasma generator, and wherein a temperature inside the plasma generator is 20° C. or higher and 80° C. or lower.
7 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 1 , wherein a shape of the base material is a conical shape.
8 . The method of producing a probe according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the coating layer is 0.1 nm or more.
9 . A surface observation method, wherein the probe produced by the probe production method according to claim 1 is used as a probe of a scanning probe microscope.
10 . A surface observation method according to claim 9 , wherein a force due to a proximity interaction between the probe and a sample is measured using theft scanning probe microscope including the probe.
11 . The surface observation method according to claim 10 , wherein the force due to the proximity interaction is an atomic force.
12 . The surface observation method according to claim 9 , wherein a surface of a magnetic recording medium is observed using the probe.