Method of fabricating monolithic nanoscale probes

1. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes, comprising:

a first material;

a second material formed on the surface of the first material and having a cavity extending through the second material into the first material and undercutting the second material;

a pair of nanoscale projections formed from the second material and having surfaces facing each other; and

a pair of nanoscale electrodes formed by a plurality of sub-monolayers of electrode material formed over the pair of nanoscale projections, a distance between facing surfaces of the pair of nanoscale electrodes being approximately equal to a predetermined probe separation between about 0.1 nm and about 20 nm.

2. The monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first and second materials of the pair of nanoscale probes form adjacent projections and the first material around a periphery of each of the nanoscale probes is removed to form the pair of nanoscale projections.

3. The monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first and second materials of the pair of nanoscale probes form adjacent projections and the first material between the nanoscale probes is removed to form the pair of nanoscale projections.

4. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes, comprising:

a substrate formed of a substrate material, the substrate having a cavity that extends from a surface of the substrate into a body of the substrate;

a dielectric layer formed on the surface of the substrate of a dielectric material, the dielectric layer including a window that extends through the dielectric layer to the cavity of the substrate such that a portion of the dielectric layer adjacent to the window extends over the cavity;

a pair of nanoscale probe precursors formed over the dielectric layer, the pair of nanoscale probe precursors including a pair of edges facing each other across the window, the pair of edges of the pair of nanoscale probe precursors correspond to tips of the pair of nanoscale probes; and

a plurality of sub-monolayers of electrode material selectively atomic layer deposited over the pair of nanoscale probe precursors, including the pair of edges, so that a distance between the tips of the pair of nanoscale probes is approximately equal to a predetermined probe width between about 0.1 nm and about 20 nm.

5. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the substrate material is Si and the dielectric material is SiO 2 .

6. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the substrate material is a semiconductor material.

7. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 6 , wherein the dielectric material is a thermal oxide of the semiconductor material.

8. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein a distance between edges of the window in the dielectric layer is less than about 2 microns.

9. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein a thickness of the dielectric layer is about 500 nm.

10. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the portion of the dielectric layer adjacent to the window extends over the cavity farther than about 500 nm.

11. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein:

the window through the dielectric layer has a pair of concave edge portions, the pair of concave edge portions corresponding to the pair of nanoscale probe precursors; and

the tips of the pair of nanoscale probes correspond to the pair of concave edge portions of the window.

12. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the pair of nanoscale probe precursors include a nonconformal Ti/Pd nucleation layer.

13. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of sub-monolayers are sub-angstrom layers of electrode material and include at least one of Cu, Al, Au, Ag, Pt, Ti, In, Ni, Ru, Pd, Sn, Pb or W.

14. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , wherein the predetermined probe width is between about 1 nm about 10 nm.

15. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 4 , further comprising an insulating layer formed between the dielectric layer and the pair of nanoscale probe precursors, the insulating layer formed on edges of the window in the dielectric layer leaving a gap of less than 1 micron.

16. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 15 , wherein the insulating layer is formed of the dielectric material.

17. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes according to claim 15 , wherein the gap in the insulating layer formed on edges of the window in the dielectric layer is between about 5 nm and about 10 nm.

18. A monolithic pair of nanoscale probes, comprising:

a pair of nanoscale probe projections corresponding to tips of the monolithic pair of nanoscale probes; and

a plurality of sub-monolayers of electrode material selectively atomic layer deposited over the pair of nanoscale probe projections to form the monolithic pair of nanoscale probes so that a distance between the monolithic pair of nanoscale probes is approximately equal to a predetermined probe separation between about 0.1 nm and about 20 nm.