Solver NEXT SPM. Instruction Manual
168
8.2. Force lithography
Force lithography is based on direct mechanical impact produced by a sharp probe on the
sample surface. The probe tip pressure on the surface is sufficient to cause plastic
deformation (modification) of the substrate surface. This type of modification has a range
of applications in nanoelectronics, nanotechnology, material science, etc. It enables the
fabrication of electronic components with active areas of nanometer scale, super dense
information recording and study of the mechanical properties of materials.
Requirements on the sample and on the probe
For force lithography the hardness of the probe material shall exceed that of the sample.
Also, the cantilever sticking and the material pickup shall be avoided. Small sample
roughness is required (typically below 1÷10 nm). Moreover, the sample surface has to be
clean. Force lithography is best performed on certain polymers including polycarbonate
and polyethylene and LB-films.
Semicontact probes with the stiffness up to 5.5 N/m are typically used in force lithography.
Depending on the selected sample there are three options of performing lithography and
viewing the results:
● carrying out lithography using contact mode and scanning by semicontact mode to
view the results;
● performing lithography in semicontact mode (with the value of Level2 within 5÷10%
from the Mag signal for free cantilever oscillations) and scanning also using the
semicontact mode (with SetPoint around 80% from the Mag signal for free cantilever
oscillations);
● using contact mode to conduct lithography and scanning also by the contact mode
(since the pressure has little variations depending on the SetPoint value viewing
lithography results in this mode might be difficult).
Force lithography can be performed in the vector or in the raster mode. Whatever mode is
used, preparational operations are the same.
This Chapter deals with:
1. Preparation for operation (see i. 8.2.1 on p. 169);
2. Performing vector force lithography (see i. 8.2.2 on p. 173);
3. Performing raster force lithography (see i. 8.2.3 on p. 183).
The lithography procedures will be demonstrated using a fragment of CD as the sample
and the probe of NSG30 model. In this case, it is appropriate to perform lithography by a
contact technique while to use a semi-contact technique for scanning.
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