micromachines Review Focused Electron Beam-Based 3D Nanoprinting for Scanning Probe Microscopy: A Review Harald Plank 1,2,3,* , Robert Winkler 1 , Christian H. Schwalb 4, Johanna Hütner 4, Jason D. Fowlkes 5,6 , Philip D. Rack 5,6 , Ivo Utke 7 and Michael Huth 8 1 Christian Doppler Laboratory for Direct–Write Fabrication of 3D Nano–Probes (DEFINE), Institute of Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria;
[email protected] 2 Institute of Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria 3 Graz Centre for Electron Microscopy, 8010 Graz, Austria 4 GETec Microscopy GmbH, 1220 Vienna, Austria;
[email protected] (C.H.S.);
[email protected] (J.H.) 5 Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA;
[email protected] (J.D.F.);
[email protected] (P.D.R.) 6 Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA 7 Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures Laboratory, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland;
[email protected] 8 Physics Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 29 November 2019; Accepted: 20 December 2019; Published: 30 December 2019 Abstract: Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has become an essential surface characterization technique in research and development. By concept, SPM performance crucially depends on the quality of the nano-probe element, in particular, the apex radius. Now, with the development of advanced SPM modes beyond morphology mapping, new challenges have emerged regarding the design, morphology, function, and reliability of nano-probes.