Instability of nanostructures patterned in polystyrene under high electric field gradients

Lyuksyutov, Sergei F.; Rackaitis, Mindaugas; Nedashkivska, Victoria

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.12.057

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At a negative sample bias, as shown in figure 2(a), a protrusion started to form at −50 V. The height of the protrusion increased with increasing voltage. The formation of this protrusion could be interpreted in terms of structural disordering of the resist film, similar to the mechanism of electrostatic nanolithography on polymers [12]. The highly non-uniform electric field (∼10 9 V m −1 ) underneath the tip strongly polarized the molecules and disrupted the moleular arrangement in the thin film.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…To achieve even smaller structures, the process of bias-assisted SPM lithography is often adapted. In this approach, the probe is biased to create a localized electric field that induces physical-chemical processes underneath the tip, such as oxidation [8], deposition [9], chemical reaction [10], and electrostatic nanolithography [11][12][13]. Recently, field-emission (FE) scanning probe lithography (FE-SPL) was used to create well-controlled patterning of sub-10 nanometer features with a high aspect ratio on thin calixarene films under ambient conditions [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nanopatterning on calixarene thin films via low-energy field-emission scanning probe lithography

He¹,

Li²,

Liu³

et al. 2018

Nanotechnology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Field-emitted, low-energy electrons from the conducting tip of an atomic force microscope were adopted for nanolithography on calixarene ultrathin films coated on silicon wafers. A structural evolution from protrusion to depression down to a 30 nm spatial resolution was reproducibly obtained by tuning the sample voltage and exposure current in the lithography process. Close analyses of the profiles showed that the nanostructures formed by a single exposure with a high current are almost identical to those created by cumulative exposure with a lower current but an equal number of injected electrons. Surface potential imaging by Kelvin probe force microscopy found a negatively charged region surrounding the groove structures once the structures were formed. We conclude that the mechanism related to the formation of a temporary negative state and molecule decomposition, rather than thermal ablation, is responsible for the low-energy field-emission electron lithography on a calixarene molecular resist. We hope that our elucidation of the underlying mechanism is helpful for molecular resist design and further improving the reproducibility and throughput of nanolithography.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 68%