Advancing atomic nanolithography: cold atomic Cs beam exposure of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers
| Autor: | Dieter Meschede, M. Mützel, K. Ludolph, Egbert Oesterschulze, D. Haubrich, G. Georgiev, B. Viaris de Lesegno, John Weiner, Colm O'Dwyer |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
History
Functionalized surfaces Self-assembled monolayer business.industry Chemistry Nanolithographic imaging Analytical chemistry Active surface Computer Science Applications Education Nanolithograpy Nanolithography Resist Atom Monolayer Atom pencil Molecule Optoelectronics business Nanoscopic scale |
| Popis: | We report the results of a study into the quality of functionalized surfaces for nanolithographic imaging. Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coverage, subsequent post-etch pattern definition and minimum feature size all depend on the quality of the Au substrate used in atomic nanolithographic experiments. We find sputtered Au substrates yield much smoother surfaces and a higher density of {111} oriented grains than evaporated Au surfaces. A detailed study of the self-assembly mechanism using molecular resolution AFM and STM has shown that the monolayer is composed of domains with sizes typically of 5-25 nm, and multiple molecular domains can exist within one Au grain. Exposure of the SAM to an optically-cooled atomic Cs beam traversing a two-dimensional array of submicron material masks ans also standing wave optical masks allowed determination of the minimum average Cs dose (2 Cs atoms per SAM molecule) and the realization of < 50 nm structures. The SAM monolayer contains many non-uniformities such as pin-holes, domain boundaries and monoatomic depressions which are present in the Au surface prior to SAM adsorption. These imperfections limit the use of alkanethiols as a resist in atomic nanolithography experiments. These studies have allowed us to realize an Atom Pencil suitable for deposition of precision quantities of material at the micro- and nanoscale to an active surface. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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