ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the modeling, design, and verification of an experimental analog front end (AFE) chip for a thermomechanical scanning-probe-based data storage concept that uses thin polymer layers to store information. Probe storage offers the advantage that the minimum feature size is defined by the tip radius or the electrical field generated by the tip and not by the limits of expensive state-of-the-art lithography. In probe-storage devices, a tip (probe) with dimensions in the nanometer range is used to read/write information on a storage medium. The design of the read/write channel is based on a behavioral model of a micromachined scanning probe. The model accurately predicts both the small-signal and the large-signal behavior in the electrical, mechanical, and thermal domains. The micromechanical cantilever acts as a transducer to convert topographical variations into electrical energy during the read process and vice versa during the write process.
