Pushing the boundaries of local oxidation nanolithography: Short timescales and high speeds

• Published in: Ultramicroscopy Vol. 108; no. 10; pp. 1120 - 1123
• Main Authors: Vicary, J.A., Miles, M.J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.09.2008
• Subjects: Atomic force microscopy; Local oxidation; Nanofabrication; Local oxidation; Atomic force microscopy; Nanofabrication; 81.16.−c; 81.07.−b; 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Pr
• ISSN: 0304-3991; 1879-2723
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2008.04.061

Fabrication of nanometre-scale structures in short timescales and with high throughput has great importance in the future of nanoscale science and technology. We show that the local oxidation of hydrogen-passivated silicon surfaces by intermittent-contact mode atomic force microscopy can be applied on timescales as low as 500 ns to create single oxide nanostructures with dimensions of 0.6×15 nm 2. Furthermore, we report on preliminary experiments demonstrating that local oxidation can also be achieved with relative tip-sample speeds in excess of 2 cm s −1 in order to pattern larger areas. This was realised using a high-speed scan stage based on a quartz crystal resonator operating at 20 kHz.