Millipede- Nano Technology

1. INTRODUCTION
Today data storage is dominated by the use of magnetic disks. Storage densities of
about more than 5 Gb/cm2 have been achieved. In the past 40 years Arial density has
increased by 6 orders of magnitude. But there is a physical limit. It has been predicted that super
paramagnetic effects the bit size at which stored information become volatile as a function of
time will limit the densities of current longitudinal recording media to about 15.5 Gb/cm .
In the near future century nanometer scale will presumably pervade the field of data storage. In
magnetic storage used today, there is no clear cut way to achieve the nanometer scale in
all three dimensions. So new techniques like holographic memory and probe based data
storage are emerging. If an emerging technology is to be considered as a serious candidate to
replace an existing technology, it should offer long term perspectives. Any new technology
with better Arial density than today's magnetic storage should have long term potential for
further scaling, desirably down to nanometer or even atomic scale. The only available tool
known today that is simple and yet offer these long term perspectives is a nano meter sharp
tip like in atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The
simple tip is a very reliable tool that concentrates on one functionality. the ultimate local
confinement of interaction. In local probe based data storage we have a cantilever that has a very
small tip at its end. Small indentations are made in a polymer medium laid over a silicon
substrate. These indentations serve as data storage locations. A single AFM operates best on the
microsecond time scale. Conventional magnetic storage, however, operates at best on the
nanosecond time scale, making it clear that AFM data rates have to be improved by at
least three orders of magnitude to be competitive with current and future magnetic
recording. The "millipede" concept is a new approach for storing data at high speed and with an
ultrahigh density.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 1

Millipede- Nano Technology

1.1 MOTIVATION AND OBJECTIVES

In the 21st century, the nanometer will very likely play a role similar to the one played by
the micrometer in the 20th century. The nanometer scale will presumably pervade the field of data
storage. In magnetic storage today, there is no clear-cut way to achieve the nanometer scale in all
three dimensions. The basis for storage in the 21st century might still be magnetism.
Within a few years, however, magnetic storage technology will arrive at a stage of its
exciting and successful evolution at which fundamental changes are likely to occur when
current storage technology hits the well known super paramagnetic limit. Several ideas have
been proposed on how to overcome this limit. One such proposal involves the use of patterned
magnetic media, for which the ideal write/read concept must still be demonstrated, but the
biggest challenge remains the patterning of the magnetic disk in a cost effective way. Other
proposals call for totally different media and techniques such as local probes or holographic
methods. In general, if an existing technology reaches its limits in the course of its
evolution and new alternatives are emerging in parallel, two things usually happen: First,
the existing and well established technology will be explored further and everything
possible done to push its limits to take maximum advantage of the considerable investments
made. Then, when the possibilities for improvements have been exhausted, the technology
may still survive for certain niche applications, but the emerging technology will take
over, opening up new perspectives and new directions.

Consider, for example, the vacuum electronic tube, which was replaced by the transistor.
The tube still exists for a very few applications, whereas the transistor evolved into
today's microelectronics with very large scale integration (VLSI) of microprocessors and
memories. Optical lithography may become another example: Although still the predominant
technology, it will soon reach its fundamental limits and be replaced by a technology yet
unknown. Today we are witnessing in many fields the transition from structures of the
micrometer scale to those of the nanometer scale, a dimension at which nature has long
been building the finest devices with a high degree of local functionality. Many of the
techniques we use today are not suitable for the coming nanometer age; some will require
minor or major modifications, and others will be partially or entirely replaced. It is certainly
difficult to predict which techniques will fall into which category. For key areas in

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 2

Millipede- Nano Technology

information technology hardware, it is not yet obvious which technology and materials
will be used for nanoelectronics and data storage.

In any case, an emerging technology being considered as a serious candidate to

replace an existing but limited technology must offer long term perspectives. For instance, the
silicon microelectronics and storage industries are huge and require correspondingly
enormous investments, which makes them long term oriented by nature. The consequence for
storage is that any new technique with better Arial storage density than today's magnetic
recording should have long term potential for further scaling, desirably down to the
nanometer or even atomic scale. The only available tool known today that is simple and yet
provides these very long-term perspectives is a nanometer sharp tip. Such tips are now used
in every atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscope (STM) for
imaging and structuring down to the atomic scale. The simple tip is a very reliable tool that
concentrates on one functionality, the ultimate local confinement of interaction.

In the early 1990’s, Mamin and Rugar at the IBM Almaden Research Center
pioneered the possibility of using an AFM tip for readback and writing of topographic
features for the purposes of data storage. In one scheme developed by them, reading and writing
were demonstrated with a single AFM tip in contact with a rotating polycarbonate substrate. The
data were written thermo mechanically via heating of the tip. In this way, densities of up to
30 Gb/in.2 were achieved, representing a significant advance compared to the densities of
that day. Later refinements included increasing readback speeds to a data rate of 10 Mb/s and
implementation of track serving.

In making use of single tips in AFM or STM operation for storage, one must deal
with their fundamental limits for high data rates. At present, the mechanical resonant
frequencies of the AFM cantilevers limit the data rates of a single cantilever to a few Mb/s for
AFM data storage, and the feedback speed and low tunneling currents limit STM based storage
approaches to even lower data rates. Currently a single AFM operates at best on the microsecond
time scale. Conventional magnetic storage, however, operates at best on the nanosecond time
scale, making it clear that AFM data rates have to be improved by at least three orders of
magnitude to be competitive with current and future magnetic recording. The objectives of
our research activities within the Micro and Nan mechanics Project at the IBM Zurich

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 3

Millipede- Nano Technology

Research Laboratory are to explore highly parallel AFM data storage with Arial storage
densities far beyond the expected uppers paramagnetic limit (60100 Gb/in. 2) and data
rates comparable to those of today's magnetic recording.

1.2 MILLIPEDE MEMORY

Millipede is a nonvolatile computer memory stored on nanoscopic pits burned into

the surface of a thin polymer layer, read and written by a MEMS based probe. It
promises a data density of more than 1 terabit per square inch (1 gigabit per square
millimeter), about 4 times the density of magnetic storage available today.

Millipede storage technology is being pursued as a potential replacement for magnetic

recording in hard drives, at the same time reducing the form factor to that of lash media. IBM
demonstrated a prototype s Millipede storage device at CeBIT 2005, and is trying to make
the technology commercially available by the end of 2007. At launch, it will probably be
more expensive per mega byte than prevailing technologies, but this disadvantage is hoped to
be offset by the sheer storage capacity that technology Millipede technology would offer.

The Millipede concept presented here is a new approach for storing data at high speed
and with an ultrahigh density. It is not a modification of an existing storage technology, although
the use of magnetic materials as storage media is not excluded. The ultimate locality is given
by a tip, and high data rates are a result of massive parallel operation of such tips. Our
current effort is focused on demonstrating the Millipede concept with Arial densities up to 500
GB/in.2 and parallel operation of very large 2D (32 × 32) AFM cantilever arrays with integrated
tips and write/read storage functionality.

1.3 THE NAME MILLIPEDE

The name Millipede came from the way the technology works. It consists of a thin,
organic polymer on which sit thousands of fine silicon tips that can punch information
into the polymer surface, leaving pits and creating a way of storing data. Each tip is very
small, with 4,000 fitting onto a 6.4 mm square.

The unveiling at the CeBIT event was not only to show off the tech but also to

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 4

Millipede- Nano Technology

try to get a manufacturing partner on board. IBM does not have the facilities to
manufacture MEMS systems, and needs another interested party to come on board that
has those facilities available. Big Blue also admits that the technology is nowhere near
ready for a release, as researchers still need to sort out the speed that data can be
transferred to and from the memory. IBM does hope, however, that Millipede will form a future
alternative to current flash memory technologies used in consumer digital equipment.

1.4 BASIC CONCEPT

The main memory of modern computers is constructed from one of a number of

DRAM related devices. DRAM basically consists of a series of capacitors, which store data as
the presence or absence of electrical charge. Each capacitor and its associated control
circuitry, referred to as a cell, holds one bit, and bits can be read or written in large
blocks at the same time.

In contrast, hard drives store data on a metal disk that is covered with a magnetic
material; data is represented as local magnetization of this material. Reading and writing
are accomplished by a single "head", which waits for the requested memory location to pass
under the head while the disk spins. As a result, the drive's performance is limited by the
mechanical speed of the motor, and is generally hundreds of thousands of times slower than
DRAM. However, since the "cells" in a hard drive are much smaller, the storage density is much
higher than DRAM.

Millipede storage attempts to combine the best features of both. Like the hard drive,
Millipede stores data in a "dumb" medium that is simpler and smaller than any cell used
in an electronic medium. It accesses the data by moving the medium under the “head” as well.
However, Millipede uses many nanoscopic heads that can read and write in parallel, thereby
dramatically increasing the throughput to the point where it can compete with some forms of
electronic memory. Additionally, millipede's physical media stores a bit in a very small area,
leading to densities even higher than current hard drives.

Mechanically, Millipede uses numerous atomic force probes, each of which is responsible

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 5

Millipede- Nano Technology

for reading and writing a large number of bits associated with it. Bits are stored as a pit, or
the absence of one, in the surface of a thermo active polymer deposited as a thin film on a
carrier known as the sled. Any one probe can only read or write a fairly small area of the
sled available to it, a storage field. Normally the sled is moved to position the selected
bits under the probe using electromechanical actuators similar to those that position the
read/write head in a typical hard drive, although the actual distance moved is tiny. The
sled is moved in a scanning pattern to bring the requested bits under the probe, a process
known as x/y scan.

The amount of memory serviced by any one field/probe pair is fairly small, but
so is its physical size. Many such field/probe pairs are used to make up a memory
device. Data reads and writes can be spread across many fields in parallel, increasing the
throughput and improving the access times. For instance, a single 32 bit value would
normally be written as a set of single bits sent to 32 different fields. In the initial experimental
devices, the probes were mounted in a 32x32 grid for a total of 1,024 probes. Their layout looked
like the legs on a Millipede and the name stuck. The design of the cantilever array is the
trickiest part, as it involves making numerous mechanical cantilevers, on which a probe has to
be mounted. All the cantilevers are made entirely out of silicon, using surface
micromachining at the wafer surface.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 6

Millipede- Nano Technology

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 7

Millipede- Nano Technology

The Millipede concept: for operation of the device, the storage medium 2 a thin film of
organic material deposited on a silicon "table" is brought into contact with the array of silicon
tips and moved in x and y direction for reading and writing. Multiplex drivers allow
addressing of each tip individually.

The 2D AFM cantilever array storage technique called “Millipede” is illustrated in

figure. It is based on a mechanical parallel x/y scanning of either the entire cantilever array chip
or the storage medium. In addition, a feedback controlled z approaching and leveling scheme
brings the entire cantilever array chip into contact with the storage medium. This tip medium
contact is maintained and controlled while x/y scanning is performed for write/read. It is
important to note that the Millipede approach is not based on individual z feedback for each
cantilever; rather, it uses a feedback control for the entire chip, which greatly simplifies the
system. However, this requires stringent control and uniformity of tip height and cantilever
bending. Chip approach and leveling make use of four integrated approaching cantilever
sensors in the corners of the array chip to control the approach of the chip to the storage
medium. Signals from three sensors (the fourth being a spare) provide feedback signals to
adjust three magnetic z actuators until the three approaching sensors are in contact with
the medium. The three sensors with the individual feedback loop maintain the chip
leveled and in contact with the surface while x/y scanning is performed for write/read
operations. The system is thus leveled in a manner similar to an ant vibration air table. This
basic concept of the entire chip approach/leveling has been tested and demonstrated for the
first time by parallel imaging with a 5 × 5 array chip . These parallel imaging results have
shown that all 25 cantilever tips have approached the substrate within less than 1 Jm of z
activation. This promising result has led us to believe that chips with a tip apex height control of
less than 500 nm are feasible. This stringent requirement for tip apex uniformity over the
entire chip is a consequence of the uniform force needed to minimize or eliminate tip
and medium wear due to large force variations resulting from large tip height no

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 8

Millipede- Nano Technology

uniformities.

During the storage operation, the chip is raster scanned over an area called the storage
field by a magnetic x/y scanner. The scanning distance is equivalent to the cantilever x/y pitch,
which is currently 92 Jm. Each cantilever/tip of the array writes and reads data only in its own
storage field. This eliminates the need for lateral positioning adjustments of the tip to offset
lateral position tolerances in tip fabrication. Consequently, a 32 × 32 array chip will generate
32 × 32 (1024) storage fields on an area of less than 3 mm × 3 mm. Assuming an Arial density of
500 Gb/in.2, one storage field of 92 Jm × 92 Jm has a capacity of about 10 Mb, and the entire 32
× 32 array with 1024 storage fields has a capacity of about 10 Gb on 3 mm × 3 mm. As
shown in Section 7, the storage capacity scales with the number of elements in the array,
cantilever pitch (storage field size) and Arial density, and depends on the application
requirements. Although not yet investigated in detail, lateral tracking will also be
performed for the entire chip, with integrated tracking sensors at the chip periphery.

This assumes and requires very good temperature control of the array chip and the
medium substrate between write and read cycles. For this reason the array chip and medium
substrate should be held within about 1°C operating temperature for bit sizes of 30 to 40 nm and
array chip sizes of a few millimeters. This will be achieved by using the same material (silicon)
for both the array chip and the medium substrate in conjunction with four integrated heat
sensors that control four heaters on the chip to maintain a constant array chip temperature
during operation. True parallel operation of large 2D arrays results in very large chip
sizes because of the space required for the individual write/read wiring to each cantilever
and the many I/O pads. The row and column time multiplexing addressing scheme
implemented successfully in every DRAM is a very elegant solution to this issue. In the
case of Millipede, the time multiplexed addressing scheme is used to address the array
row by row with full parallel write/read operation within one row.

2. DATA STORAGE

Each probe in the cantilever array stores and reads data thermo to mechanically,
handling one bit at a time. In recent years, AFM thermo mechanical recording in polymer
storage media has undergone extensive modifications, primarily with respect to the

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 9

Millipede- Nano Technology

integration of sensors and heaters designed to enhance simplicity and to increase data rate and
storage density. Using cantilevers with heaters, thermo mechanical recording at 30 Gb/in.2
storage density and data rates of a few Mb/s for reading and 100 Kb/s for writing have been
demonstrated.

2.1 ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE PROBES

The AFM consists of a microscale cantilever with a sharp tip (probe) at its end that is
used to scan the specimen surface. The cantilever is typically silicon or silicon nitride with a tip
radius of curvature on the order of nanometers. When the tip is brought into proximity of a
sample surface, forces between the tip and the sample lead to a deflection of the cantilever
according to Hooke's law. Depending on the situation, forces that are measured in AFM
include mechanical contact force, Van der Waals forces, capillary forces, chemical
bonding, electrostatic forces, magnetic forces (see Magnetic force microscope (MFM)),
Casimir forces, solvation forces etc. As well as force, additional quantities may
simultaneously be measured through the use of specialized types of probe (see Scanning
thermal microscopy, photo thermal micro spectroscopy, etc.). Typically, the deflection is
measured using a laser spot reflected from the top of the cantilever into an array of
photodiodes. Other methods that are used include optical interferometer, capacitive sensing
or piezoresistive AFM cantilevers. These cantilevers are fabricated with piezoresistive
elements that act as a strain gauge. Using a Wheatstone bridge, strain in the AFM cantilever due
to deflection can be measured, but this method is not as sensitive as laser deflection or
interferometer.

2.2 READING DATA

To accomplish a read, the probe tip is heated to around 300 °C and moved in proximity to
the data sled. If the probe is located over a pit the cantilever will push it into the hole, increasing
the surface area in contact with the sled, and in turn increasing the cooling as heat leaks into the
sled from the probe. In the case where there is no pit at that location, only the very tip of the
probe remains in contact with the sled and the heat leaks away more slowly. The electrical
resistance of the probe is a function of its temperature, rising with increasing temperature.
Thus when the probe drops into a pit and cools, this registers as a drop in resistance. A low

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 10

Millipede- Nano Technology

resistance will be translated to a "1" bit, or a "0” bit otherwise. While reading an entire storage
field, the tip is dragged over the entire surface and the resistance changes are constantly
monitored.

Imaging and reading are done using a new thermo mechanical sensing concept.
The heater cantilever originally used only for writing was given the additional function of
a thermal readback sensor by exploiting its temperature2dependent resistance. The resistance
(R) increases nonlinearly with heating power/temperature from room temperature to a peak
value of 5002700°C. The peak temperature is determined by the doping concentration of
the heater platform, which ranges from 1 × 1017 to 2 × 1018. Above the peak
temperature, the resistance drops as the number of intrinsic carriers increases because of
thermal excitation.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 11

Millipede- Nano Technology

For sensing, the resistor is operated at about 300°C, a temperature that is not high
enough to soften the polymer, as is necessary for writing. The principle of thermal
sensing is based on the fact that the thermal conductance between the heater platform and
the storage substrate changes according to the distance between them. The medium between a
cantilever and the storage substrate—in our case air—transports heat from one side to the other.
When the distance between heater and sample is reduced as the tip moves into a bit indentation,
the heat transport through air will be more efficient, and the heater's temperature and hence
its resistance will decrease. Thus, changes in temperature of the continuously heated
resistor are monitored while the cantilever is scanned over data bits, providing a means of
detecting the bits. Under typical operating conditions, the sensitivity of thermo mechanical
sensing is even better than that of piezo resistive strain sensing, which is not surprising
because thermal effects in semiconductors are stronger than strain effects.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 12

Millipede- Nano Technology

3. WRITING DATA.
To write a bit, the tip of the probe is heated to a temperature above the glass
transition temperature of the polymer used to manufacture the data sled, which is
generally acrylic glass. In this case the transition temperature is around 400 °C. To write a "1",
the polymer in proximity to the tip is softened, and then the tip is gently touched to it, causing a
dent. To erase the bit and return it to the zero state, the tip is instead pulled up from the surface,
allowing surface tension to pull the surface flat again. Older experimental systems used a
variety of erasure techniques that were generally more time consuming and less successful.
These older systems offered around 100,000 erases, but the available references do not
contain enough information to say if this has been improved with the newer technique.

Thermo mechanical writing is a combination of applying a local force by the

cantilever/tip to the polymer layer and
softening it by local heating. Initially,
the heat transfer from the tip to the
polymer through the small contact
area is very poor, improving as the
contact area increases. This means
that the tip must be heated to a
relatively high temperature (about
400°C) to initiate the melting process.

Once melting has commenced,

the tip is pressed into the polymer,
which increases the heat transfer to the
polymer, increases the volume of
melted polymer, and hence increases
the bit size. Our rough estimates
indicate that at the beginning of the writing process only about 0.2% of the heating
power is used in the very small contact zone (1040 nm 2) to melt the polymer locally,
whereas about 80% is lost through the cantilever legs to the chip body and about 20% is
radiated from the heater platform through the air gap to the medium/substrate. After

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 13

Millipede- Nano Technology

melting has started and the contact area has increased, the heating power available for generating
the indentations increases by at least ten times to become 2% or more of the total heating power.
With this highly nonlinear heat transfer mechanism, it is very difficult to achieve small tip
penetration and thus small bit sizes, as well as to control and reproduce the thermo
mechanical writing process. This situation can be improved if the thermal conductivity of the
substrate is increased, and if the depth of tip penetration is limited. We have explored the use of
very thin polymer layers deposited on Si substrates to improve these characteristics.

a. Early storage medium consisting of a bulk PMMA.

b. New storage medium for small bit sizes consisting of thin PMMA layer on top of a Si
substrate separated by a cross linked film of photo resist.

The hard Si
substrate prevents the
tip from penetrating
farther than the film
thickness allows, and
it enables more rapid
transport of heat away
from the heated region
because Si is a much better conductor of heat than the polymer. We have coated Si substrates
with a 402nm film of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and achieved bit sizes ranging between

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 14

Millipede- Nano Technology

10 and 50 nm. However, we noticed increased tip wear, probably caused by the contact between
Si tip and Si substrate during writing. We therefore introduced a 702nm layer of cross SS linked
photo resist (SU28) between the Si substrate and the PMMA film to act as a softer penetration
stop that avoids tip wear but remains thermally stable.

2.4 ARRAY DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND FABRICATION

As a first step, a 5 × 5 array chip was designed and fabricated to test the basic Millipede
concept. All 25 cantilevers had integrated tip heating for thermo mechanical writing and
piezoresistive deflection sensing for readback. No time to multiplexing addressing scheme
was used for this test vehicle; rather, each cantilever was individually addressable for both
thermo mechanical writing and piezoresistive deflection sensing. A complete resistive bridge for
integrated detection has also been incorporated for each cantilever. The chip has been used to
demonstrate x/y/z scanning and approaching of the entire array, as well as parallel
operation for imaging. This was the first parallel imaging by a 2D AFM array chip with
integrated piezoresistive deflection sensing.

The imaging results also confirmed the global chip to approaching and leveling
scheme, since all 25 tips approached the medium within less than 1 Jm of z actuation.
Unfortunately, the chip was not able to demonstrate parallel writing because of electro migration
problems due to temperature and current density in the Al wiring of the heater. However, we
learned from this 5 × 5 test vehicle that

1) Global chip approaching and leveling is possible and promising, and

2) Metal (Al) wiring on the cantilevers should be avoided to eliminate electro migration

and cantilever deflection due to bimorph effects while heating.

Since the heater platform functions as a write/read element and no individual cantilever
actuation is required, the basic array cantilever cell becomes a simple two terminal device
addressed by multiplexed x/y wiring. The cell area and x/y cantilever pitch is 92 Jm × 92
Jm, which results in a total array size of less than 3 mm × 3 mm for the 1024 cantilevers. The

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 15

Millipede- Nano Technology

cantilever is fabricated entirely of silicon for good thermal and mechanical stability. It consists of
the heater platform with the tip on top, the legs acting as a soft mechanical spring, and an
electrical connection to the heater. They are highly doped to minimize interconnection resistance
and replace the metal wiring on the cantilever to eliminate electro migration and parasitic z
actuation of the cantilever due to the bimorph effect. The resistive ratio between the heater
and the silicon interconnection sections should be as high as possible; currently the
highly doped interconnections are 400N and the heater platform is 11 kN (at 4 V reading bias).
The cantilever mass must be minimized to obtain soft (flexible), high resonant frequency
cantilevers. Soft cantilevers are required for a low loading force in order to eliminate or
reduce tip and medium wear, whereas a high resonant frequency allows high speed
scanning. In addition, sufficiently wide cantilever legs are required for a small thermal time
constant, which is partly determined by cooling via the cantilever legs. These design
considerations led to an array cantilever with 502Jm long, 102Jm to wide, 0.52Jm thick
legs, and a 52Jm2wide, 102Jm2long, 0.52Jm2thick platform. Such a cantilever has a
stiffness of 1 N/m and a resonant frequency of 200 kHz. The heater time constant is a few
microseconds, which should allow a multiplexing rate of 100 kHz. The tip height should be as
small as possible because the heater platform sensitivity depends strongly on the distance
between the platform and the medium. This contradicts the requirement of a large gap between
the chip surface and the storage medium to ensure that only the tips, and not the chip surface, are
making contact with the medium. Instead of making the tips longer, we purposely bent the
cantilevers a few micrometers out of the chip plane by depositing a stress2controlled
plasma2enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon2nitride layer at the base of
the cantilever. This bending as well as the tip height must be well controlled in order to
maintain an equal loading force for all cantilevers of an array.

2.5 ARRAY CHARACTERIZATION

The array's independent cantilevers, which are located in the four corners of the array and
used for approaching and leveling of chip and storage medium, are used to initially characterize
the interconnected array cantilevers. Additional cantilever test structures are distributed

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 16

Millipede- Nano Technology

over the wafer; they are equivalent to but independent of the array cantilevers. In the
low2power, low2temperature regime, silicon mobility is affected by phonon scattering, which
depends on temperature, whereas at higher power the intrinsic temperature of the
semiconductor is reached, resulting in a resistively drop due to the increasing number of carriers.
The cantilevers within the array are electrically isolated from one another by integrated Scotty
diodes. The tip2apex height uniformity within an array is very important because it
determines the force of each cantilever while in contact with the medium and hence
influences write/read performance as well as medium and tip wear. Wear investigations
suggest that a tip2apex height uniformity across the chip of less than 500 nm is required, with
the exact number depending on the spring constant of the cantilever. In the case of the
Millipede, the tip2apex height is determined by the tip height and the cantilever bending.

2.6 Millipede chip

Fig: Photograph of fabricated chip (14 X 7 mm2). The 32 X 32 cantilever array is located at

the center, with bond pads distributed on either side.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 17

Millipede- Nano Technology

MILLIPEDE IS UNIQUE

Conventional data storage devices, such as disk drives and CD/DVDs, are based
on systems that sense changes in magnetic fields or light to perform the
read/write/store/erase functions. Millipede is unique both in form and the way it performs
data storage tasks; it is based on a chip-mounted, mechanical system that senses a
physical change in the storage media. The millipede’s technology is actually closer to,
although on an atomic scale, the archaic punched card than the more recent magnetic
media. Using millipede, the IBM scientists have demonstrated a data storage density
of a trillion bits per square inch -20 times higher than the densest magnetic storage
available today. Millipede is dense enough to store the equivalent of 25 DVDs on a surface of
the size of a postage stamp. This technology may boost the storage capacity of handheld devices
- personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cell phones often criticized for their low storage
capabilities.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 18

Millipede- Nano Technology

CHALLENGES TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

The researchers admit that the technology is a number of years away from being ready for
practical applications. As a prototype, millipede has proven the design concept works; however,
several challenges remain that must be resolved prior to marketing the storage device
commercially. The millipede design team listed concerns about overall system reliability, bit
stability, tip and medium wear, limits of data rate, CMOS integration, optimization of the multiplexing
scheme, array chip tracking and data rate versus power consumption tradeoffs. Other questions
are, whether millipede has overcome the write slow/read fast problem of flash technology and
how stable millipede data is at various temperatures. All are significant valid concerns that must
be addressed prior to full-scale production.

MANUFACTURABILITY

There is not a single step in fabrication that needs to be invented.

Millipede would be relatively inexpensive to manufacture because chips can be made using
IBM’s existing manufacturing equipments and techniques.

HEAT DISSIPATION AND THERMAL STABILITY

Ultra dense computer architectures intensify some of the same issues facing conventional
computer hardware, such as heat dissipation. Heat dissipation is one of the several reasons that
the dense interconnects ( wires ) are approaching a limit. Quantum effects dominate in very small
transistors. Unlike the nano-scale quantum-dot cellular automata, millipede does not require
cryogenic temperatures for operation. How closely bits are packed without interacting in a way
that degrades the data is unknown. There is a cost for pushing the density to its limit while
neglecting speed, reliability and ease of use. Results of testing to determine the stability of
millipede’s polymer medium have not been released; however adjustments to the formulation of
the film could alter its chemical properties, if necessary. Minimum temperature of 400 oC is
required to cause the film to flow and thus minimize the likelihood of thermally damaging the
data.

3. FEATURES

1. Storage capacity – 1 terabit per square inch

2. Equal to 25 DVD

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 19

Millipede- Nano Technology

3. 25 billion texts in a stamp sized surface

4. Enable 10 GB of storage in cell phones

5. Uses atomic force probes

6. Data reads & writes in the storage field

7. Access time is small

8. Data rate is 1 GB/s

9. Needs less power about 100mw

3.1 AREAL DENSITY

DRAM 10 Gb/ Sq inch

Flash Drive 25 Gb/ Sq inch

Hard Drive 250 Gb/ Sq inch

Millipede 1 Tb/ Sq inch

4. APPLICATIONS
Millipede systems can be used for micro drives, which will feature very small
form factor, enabling use in small footprint devices like watches, mobile phones and
personal media systems, and at the same time provide high capacity. The very high data density

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 20

Millipede- Nano Technology

of Millipede systems makes them a very good candidate to be put to this use.

4.1 SMALL FORM FACTOR STORAGE SYSTEM (NANODRIVE)

IBM's recent product announcement of the Micro drive represents a first successful
step into miniaturized storage systems. As we enter the age of pervasive computing, we
can assume that computer power is available virtually everywhere.

Miniaturized and low power storage systems will become crucial, particularly for mobile
applications. The availability of storage devices with gigabyte capacity having a very
small form factor (in the range of centimeters or even millimeters) will open up new
possibilities to integrate such “Nanodrives” into watches, cellular telephones, laptops, etc.,
provided such devices have low power consumption.

The array chip with integrated or hybrid electronics and the micro magnetic
scanner are key elements demonstrated for a Millipede 2based device called Nanodrive,
which is of course also very interesting for audio and video consumer applications. All to
silicon, batch fabrication, low2cost polymer media, and low power consumption make
Millipede very attractive as a centimeter or even millimeter sized gigabyte storage system.

4.2 TERABIT DRIVE

The potential for very high Arial density renders the Millipede also very attractive for
high end terabit storage systems. As mentioned, terabit capacity can be achieved with three
Millipede based approaches:

1) Very large arrays,

2) Many smaller arrays operating in parallel, and

3) Displacement of small/medium2sized arrays over large media.

Although the fabrication of considerably larger arrays (105 to 106cantilevers)

appears to be possible, control of the thermal linear expansion will pose a considerable
challenge as the array chip becomes significantly larger. The second approach is appealing

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 21

Millipede- Nano Technology

because the storage system can be upgraded to fulfill application requirements in a modular
fashion by operating many smaller Millipede units in parallel.

The operation of the third approach was described above with the example of a modified
hard disk. This approach combines the advantage of smaller arrays with the displacement of the
entire array chip, as well as repositioning of the polymer2coated disk to a new storage
location on the disk. A storage capacity of several terabits appears to be achievable on 2.52
and 3.52in. Disks. In addition, this approach is an interesting synergy of existing, reliable
(hard2disk drive) and new (Millipede) technologies.

4.3 HIGH CAPACITY HARD DRIVES

The Millipede system provides high data density, low seek times, low power
consumption and, probably, high reliability. These features make them candidates for building
high capacity hard drives, with storage capacity in the range of terabytes. Although the
data density of a Millipede is high, the capacity of an individual device is expected to be
relatively low 22 on the order of single gigabytes. Thus replacing hard a drive probably
requires economically collecting around 100 Millipede devices into a single enclosure.

5. CURRENT STATE OF THE ART

The progress of Millipede storage to a commercially useful product has been

slower than expected. Huge advances in other competing storage systems, notably Flash and
hard drives, has made the existing demonstrators unattractive for commercial production.
Millipede appears to be in a race, attempting to mature quickly enough at a given technology

Level that it has not been surpassed by newer generations of the existing technologies by the
time it is ready for production.

The earliest generation Millipede devices used probes 10 nanometers in diameter

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 22

Millipede- Nano Technology

and 70 nanometers in length, producing pits about 40 nm in diameter on fields 92 Jm x 92 Jm.

Arranged in a 32 x 32 grid, the resulting 3 mm x 3 mm chip stores 500 megabits of data or 62.5
MB, resulting in an Arial density, the number of bits per square inch, on the order of 200
Gbit/in². IBM initially demonstrated this device in 2003, planed to introduce it commercially in
2005. By that point hard drives were approaching 150 Gbit/in², and have since surpassed it.

More recent devices demonstrated at CeBIT in 2008 have improved on the basic design,
using a 64 x 64 cantilever chips with a 7 mm x 7 mm data sled, boosting the data storage
capacity to 800 Gbit/in² using smaller pits. It appears the pit size can scale to about 10 nm,
resulting in a theoretical Arial density just over 1Tbit/in². IBM now plans to introduce devices
based on this sort of density in 2007. For comparison, the very latest perpendicular recording
hard drives feature Arial densities on the order of 230 Gbit/in², and appear to top out at
about 1 Tbit/in². Semiconductor based memories offer much lower density, 10 Gbit/in² for
DRAM and about 250 Mbit/in² for Flash RAM.

6. ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS

For the first time, it has fabricated and operated large 2D AFM arrays for thermo
mechanical data storage in thin polymer media. In doing so, it has demonstrated key milestones
of the Millipede storage concept. The 400 2 5002Gb/in.2 storage density we have
demonstrated with single cantilevers is among the highest reported so far. The initial densities
of 100 2 200 Gb/in.2 achieved with the 32 × 32 array are very encouraging, with the
potential of matching those of single cantilevers. Well controlled processing techniques have
been developed to fabricate array chips with good yield and uniformity. This VLSINEMS chip
has the potential to open up new perspectives in many other applications of scanning probe
techniques as well. Millipede is not limited to storage applications or polymer media. The
concept is very general if the required functionality can be integrated on the
cantilever/tip. This of course applies also to any other storage medium, including
magnetic ones, making Millipede a possible universal parallel write/read head for future
storage systems. Besides storage, other Millipede applications can be envisioned for large

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 23

Millipede- Nano Technology

area, high speed imaging and high throughput nano scale lithography, as well as for atomic
and molecular manipulation and modifications.

The smoothness of the reflowed medium allowed multiple rewriting of the same storage
field. This erasing process does not allow bit level erasing; it will erase larger storage
areas. However, in most applications single bit erasing is not required anyway, because files or
records are usually erased as a whole. The erasing and multiple rewriting processes, as well as bit
stability investigations, are topics of ongoing research.

The current Millipede array chip fabrication technique is compatible with CMOS circuits,
which will allow future microelectronics integration. This is expected to produce better
performance and smaller system form factors, as well as lower costs.

Although it has demonstrated the first high density storage operations with the largest 2D
AFM array chip ever built, a number of issues must be addressed before the Millipede can be
considered for commercial applications; a few of these are listed below:

 Overall system reliability, including bit stability, tip and medium wear,
erasing/rewriting.

 Limits of data rate (S/N ratio), Arial density, and array and cantilever size.

 CMOS integration.

 Optimization of write/read multiplexing scheme.

 Array chip tracking.

The near term future activities are focused on these important aspects.

The highly parallel nanomechanical approach is novel in many respects. Recalling

the transistortomicroprocessor story mentioned at the beginning, we might ask whether a
new device of a yet inconceivable level of novelty could possibly emerge from the Millipede.
There is at least one feature of the Millipede that we have not yet exploited. With
integrated Schottky diodes and the temperature sensitive resistors on the current version of the
Millipede array chip, we have already achieved the first and simplest level of

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 24

Millipede- Nano Technology

micromechanical/electronic integration, but we are looking for much more complex ones to
make sensing and actuation faster and more reliable. However, we envision something very
much beyond this. Whenever there is parallel operation of functional units, there is the
opportunity for sophisticated communication or logical interconnections between these
units. The topology of such a network carries its own functionality and intelligence that goes
beyond that of the individual devices. It could, for example, act as a processor. For the
Millipede this could mean that a processor and VLSI nano mechanical device may be
merged to form a “smart” Millipede.

If the Millipede is used, for example, as an imaging device, let us say for quality control
in silicon chip fabrication, the amount of information it can generate is so huge that it is
difficult to transmit these data to a computer to store and process them. Furthermore,
most of the data are not of interest at all, so it would make sense if only the pertinent parts were
predigested by the specialized smart Millipede and then transmitted. For this purpose,
communication between the cantilevers is helpful because a certain local pattern detected by
a single tip can mean something in one context and something else or even nothing in another
context. The context might be derived from the patterns observed by other tips. A similar
philosophy could apply to the Millipede as a storage device. A smart Millipede could
possibly find useful pieces of information very quickly by a built in complex pattern
recognition ability, e.g., by ignoring information when certain bit patterns occur within the
array. The bit patterns are recognized instantaneously by logical interconnections of the
cantilevers.

7. CONCLUSION

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 25

Millipede- Nano Technology

Millipede is a nanostorage prototype developed by IBM that can store data at a

density of a trillion bits per square inch: 20 times more than any currently available
magnetic storage medium. The prototype's capacity would enable the storage of 25 DVDs or 25
million pages of text on a postage stamp sized surface, and could enable 10 gigabytes (GB) of
storage capacity on a cell phone.

Millipede uses thousands of tiny sharp points (hence the name) to punch holes into a thin
plastic film. Each of the 10nanometer holes represents a single bit. The pattern of indentations is
a digitized version of the data. According to IBM, Millipede can be thought of as a
nanotechnology version of the punch card data processing technology developed in the late 19th
century. However, there are significant differences: Millipede is rewritable, and it may eventually
enable storage of over 1.5 GB of data in a space no larger than a single hole in the punch card.
Storage devices based on IBM's technology can be made with existing manufacturing
techniques, so they will not be expensive to make. According to Peter Vet tiger, head of the
Millipede project, "There is not a single step in fabrication that needs to be invented." Vet tiger
predicts that a nanostorage device based on IBM's technology could be available as early as
2009.

GRNICA, Shivamogga 2009 Page 26