Vanadium oxide thermal microprobes

1. A temperature probe comprising:

a substrate;

a cantilever body portion formed on the substrate by sputter deposition, including an anchor portion held in contact to the substrate and a free end portion extending out of the surface of the substrate; and

a thermistor sensor portion located at the free end portion of the cantilever body portion, wherein the thermistor sensor portion is comprised of a sputter-deposited semiconductor material.

2. The temperature probe according to claim 1 , further including electrical contact pads positioned to receive an electrical input.

3. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the temperature probe is a monolithic temperature probe, having the cantilever body portion and the sensor portion comprised of a sputter-deposited semiconductor material.

4. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the sputter-deposited semiconductor material is stressed engineered in an atmosphere having an Argon (Ar):Oxygen (O.sub.2) mixture ratio in a range of 20:1 (Ar:O.sub.2) to 5:1 (Ar:O.sub.2).

5. The temperature probe according to claim 4 wherein the stressed engineered vanadium oxide is sputter-deposited vanadium oxide.

6. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the cantilever is a two legged cantilever and the sensor portion is a bridge connecting the two legs.

7. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the cantilever is a single legged cantilever and the sensor portion is a tip and an end of the single leg.

8. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the temperature probe is a hybrid temperature probe, having the cantilever body portion comprised of a stressed metal.

9. The temperature probe according to claim 1 wherein the sputter-deposited semiconductor material of the sensor portion is sputter-deposited vanadium oxide.

10. A method for manufacturing a temperature probe comprising:

depositing a thin film of a sacrificial material on a substrate;

patterning the sacrificial material;

depositing a first layer of vanadium oxide;

depositing a second layer of vanadium oxide;

patterning the deposited first and second layers of vanadium oxide; and

etching the sacrificial layer to release the patterned first and second layers of vanadium oxide.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the steps of depositing the first and the second layers of vanadium oxide include using vanadium which is oxidized in situ.

12. The method according to claim 10 wherein a mixed atmosphere Argon and Oxygen is used in the depositing of the first and second layers of vanadium oxide.

13. The method according to claim 12 wherein the ratio of Argon to Oxygen is 10 to 1.

14. The method according to claim 12 wherein the ratio of Argon to Oxygen is in a range of approximately 20:1 (Ar:O.sub.2) to 5:1 (Ar:O.sub.2).

15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the patterning of the first and second layers of vanadium include patterning two leg portions and a tip portion extending between and interconnecting the two leg portions.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the tip portion is of a narrower width than the two leg portions.

17. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the depositing of the first and second layers of vandium oxide include employing DC power in the range of approximately 100 W DC to approximately 800 W DC.

18. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the atmospheric pressure used in the depositing of the first and second layers of vanadium oxide range between approximately 1 mTorr to approximately 10 mTorr.

19. A method for manufacturing a temperature probe comprising;

depositing a thin film of a sacrificial material on a substrate;

patterning the sacrificial layer;

depositing a dielectric layer;

patterning the dielectric layer;

depositing a thermistor material;

depositing a stressed metal layer;

patterning the thermistor layer and the stressed metal layer, wherein the thermistor and stressed metal layer are in contact;

depositing a second dielectric layer;

depositing a thin gold layer;

etching away a portion of the sacrificial layer, releasing a cantilever structure; and

etching another portion of the sacrificial layer to release patterned first and second layers of vanadium oxide.