Nanofabrication of thin chromium film deposited on Si(100) surfaces by tip induced anodization in atomic force microscopy

Abstract

Writing of nanostructures on thin metal films using atomic force microscopy (AFM) was demonstrated. The writing experiments were done in a nitrogen ambient having variable humidity. Using a p-type heavily doped silicon AFM tip, a bias voltage was independently applied between the tip and the surface of a thin chromium layer deposited on a Si(100) substrate. Protruded patterns of various shapes were formed only on the water-adsorbed chromium surface when applying a negative bias on the tip. Their sizes were found to be dependent on the writing time, the bias voltage, and the humidity. The smallest feature size obtained is about 20 nm. From Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis, the products are shown to be Cr oxides. The surface modification mechanism appears to be tip-induced local oxidation, i.e., anodization.

Single electron transistors fabricated with AFM ultrafine nanooxidation process

“…If the applied voltage, scanning speed, and film thickness of the metal to be processed are adjusted, an extremely small structure on the order of 10 nm can be realized. The metals that have been used to date for fabrication include Ti [3,4], Nb [68], Cr [9], and Al [10].…”

Wet-chemical nanoscale patterning of GaAs surfaces using atomic force microscope lithography

“…The highly focused electron beam emanating from a biased conducting tip was either used to expose an electron-beam resist consisting of a polymer layer [1], a siloxane spin on glass [2], or a carbonaceous contamination film [3], or to selectively oxidize semiconductor [4][5][6] or base metal surfaces [7][8][9]. A unique method for patterning nonconducting substrates is direct machining of the sample surface by ploughing a furrow with the AFM tip in the contact mode [10][11][12][13] or by a vibrating tip in the tapping mode [13][14][15].…”

Electro Mechanical Scanning Probe Lithography of Carbon Nanostructures

“…The nanoprotrusion formation was demonstrated in experiments with silicon [2][3][4][5] and some metals [6][7][8][9] that was considered as a result of their local oxidation at positive voltages, i.e., anodization of the sample surface under the probe actions in the presence of adsorbed water vapors.…”