Locally enhanced relative humidity for scanning probe nanolithography
The formation of a water meniscus between a sharp tip and a solid surface is one of the prevailing requirements for scanning probe microscope (SPM)-based lithographies, such as dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) and conductive tip induced oxidation. The water meniscus functions as a medium for the oxidat...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids. - 1992. - 21(2005), 24 vom: 22. Nov., Seite 10902-6 |
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| Weitere Verfasser: | , , |
| Format: | Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2005
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids |
| Schlagworte: | Letter |
| Zusammenfassung: | The formation of a water meniscus between a sharp tip and a solid surface is one of the prevailing requirements for scanning probe microscope (SPM)-based lithographies, such as dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) and conductive tip induced oxidation. The water meniscus functions as a medium for the oxidation of or mass transfer to the solid surface. Here we report a simple, efficient, and effective approach to enhance the local relative humidity and thus increase the size of the water meniscus by bringing a water-containing capillary tube to the proximity of the tip-surface contact area. The enhancement in local relative humidity is confirmed via an increase in the measured tip-surface adhesion forces and the widths of DPN generated parallel lines. Compared to the global control of relative humidity for the whole lithography system, the short distance between the "water reservoir" and the tip-surface contact area enables rapid increase in the local vapor pressure of water, less perturbation, and minimal erosion to the state-of-the-art electronics. As a result, most scanning probe lithography experiments at high relative humidity can now be performed in a reasonable time frame |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Completed 05.04.2007 Date Revised 15.11.2005 published: Print Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1520-5827 |