Atomic force microscopy-based repeated machining theory for nanochannels on silicon oxide surfaces

The atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based repeated nanomachining of nanochannels on silicon oxide surfaces is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The relationships of the initial nanochannel depth vs. final nanochannel depth at a normal force are systematically studied. Using the derived theory and simulation results, the final nanochannel depth can be predicted easily. Meanwhile, if a nanochannel with an expected depth needs to be machined, a right normal force can be selected simply and easily in order to decrease the wear of the AFM tip. The theoretical analysis and simulation results can be effectively used for AFM-based fabrication of nanochannels.     

Contact dynamics of tapping mode atomic force microscopy

A comprehensive model on the dynamics of a tilted tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) is presented, which includes the multimodal analysis, mode coupling mechanisms, adhesion, contact and friction forces induced by the tilting angle. A displacement criterion of contact/impact is proposed to eliminate the assumptions of the previous models such as infinite stiffness of sample or zero impact velocity, which makes the model presented here suitable for more general AFM application scenario, especially for the soft sample case. The AFM tip mass, tip–sample damping, contact forces and intermittent contact can all induce the higher modes participation into the system motion. One degree of freedom or one mode study on the AFM contact dynamics of tapping mode is shown to be inaccurate. The Hertz and Derjaguin–Muller–Toporov models are used for the comparison study of the non-adhesive and adhesive contacts. The intermittent contact and the contact forces are the two major sources of the system nonlinearity. The rich dynamic responses of the system and its sensitivity to the initial conditions are demonstrated by presenting various subharmonic and nonperiodic motions.     

SiO2and Si nanoscale patterning with an atomic force microscope

The use of an atomic force microscope (AFM) as a nanolithographic tool is demonstrated. A photoresist layer several nanometre thin isindented by the vibrating AFM tip, where software control switches the tapping force from the imaging to the patterning mode. The resist pattern is transferred into a 10 nm SiO₂layer on Si(100) by wet chemical etching resulting in 20–40 nm wide lines. Subsequent transfer into the Si substrate using anisotropic KOH etching formed 60 nm wide V grooves.     

Local surface cleaning and cluster assembly using contact mode atomic force microscopy

Conventional contact mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used for local surface cleaning and cluster alignment. By using the AFM tip to sweep and push in contact mode, we have demonstrated that Cu clusters, prepared by vacuum evaporation onto Dow Cyclotene 3022 polymer and subsequent exposure to atmosphere, can easily be moved by the AFM tip, and assembled at the outer edge of the scanned region to form a line of clusters. We have found that the force applied by the tip plays an important role in the ease of cluster motion. Cyclotene surface treatment that enhances cluster adhesion hinders this ability, and may be used as a method of nanofabrication.     

Theory of higher harmonics imaging in tapping-mode atomic force microscopy

The periodic impact force induced by tip-sample contact in tapping mode atomic force microscope (AFM) gives rise to non-harmonic response of a micro-cantilever. These non-harmonic signals contain the full characteristics of tip-sample interaction. A complete theoretical model describing the dynamical behaviour of tip--sample system was developed in this paper. An analytic formula was introduced to describe the relationship between time-varying tip--sample impact force and tip motion. The theoretical analysis and numerical results both show that the time-varying tip--sample impact force can be reconstructed by recording tip motion. This allows for the reconstruction of the characteristics of the tip--sample force, like contact time and maximum contact force. It can also explain the ability of AFM higher harmonics imaging in mapping stiffness and surface energy variations.     

Effects of AFM-based nanomachining process on aluminum surface

Surface analysis of nanomachined material is studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). To understand the influence of different machined conditions on surface characterization, several nanomachining experiments are performed. Multiple furrows are conducted on a silicon substrate coated with aluminum films under the four different applied loads, including 4, 8, 12, 16 μN. Results indicate that the average surface roughness and the root-mean-square roughness of nanometer-scale surface are improved after the nanomachining process. It can be seen that a smoother surface is obtained under an applied load of 12 μN, and it implies that the surface roughness of the case is minimum in all tests. The same result can also be seen in the fractal dimension analysis. In addition, the bulge edge effect on the nanomachining process is obvious after several scribing cycles.     

Microthermal machining using scanning thermal microscopy

Microthermal machining using scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) has been performed on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials, which are a soft polymer and suitable for microthermal machining. The probe of the SThM is heated and used as a machining tool on the PMMA material. Adjustment of the resistance can control the probe’s temperature. To obtain good machining quality, the probe temperature must be continuously controlled. The temperature of the machined area of the sample’s surface must be higher than the melting point of the PMMA material. However, a lower machined quality occurs when the probe temperature is too high. Furthermore, the adhesive phenomenon is very apparent when the contact mode is used in SThM machining. The microthermal machining of PMMA materials using SThM in semi-contact mode at a probe temperature of 400 °C has the best results. The technique can be used to process a complicated pattern and applied for use of high-density data storage.     

Material anisotropy revealed by phase contrast in intermittent contact atomic force microscopy

Phase contrast in intermittent-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals in-plane structural and mechanical properties of polymer monolayers. This is surprising, because measurements of nanoscale in-plane properties typically require contact mode microscopies. Our measurements are possible because the tip oscillates not just perpendicular but also parallel to the sample surface along the long axis of the cantilever. This lateral tip displacement is virtually universal in AFM, implying that any oscillating-tip AFM technique is sensitive to in-plane material properties.     

Ultrasonic radiation in dynamic force microscopy

In dynamic force microscopy the cantilever of an atomic force microscope is vibrated at ultrasonic frequencies in the range of several 10 kHz up to several MHz while scanning a sample surface. The amplitude and phase of the cantilever vibration as well as the shift of the cantilever resonance frequencies provide information about local sample surface properties. In several operation modes of dynamic force microscopy, for example force modulation microscopy, tapping mode or atomic force acoustic microscopy, the sensor tip is in contact with the sample at least during a fraction of its vibration cycle. The periodic indentation of the tip with the sample surface generates ultrasonic waves. In this paper, the ultrasonic radiation of a vibrating cantilever into a sample and its contribution to the damping of the cantilever vibration are calculated. The theoretical results are compared to experiments.     

Dissipation Energy in Tapping-Mode Atomic Force Microscopes Caused by Liquid Bridge

The dissipation of energy during the process of contact and separation between a tip and a sample is very important for understanding the phase images in the tapping mode of atomic force microscopes(AFMs). In this study, a method is presented to measure the dissipated energy between a tip and a sample. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical model, which indicates that the method is reliable.Also, this study confirms that liquid bridges are mainly produced by extrusion modes in the tapping mode of AFMs.     

Evaluation of nanoscale roughness measurements on a plasma treated SU-8 polymer surface by atomic force microscopy

A comparison between roughness data obtained with an atomic force microscope (AFM) on different surfaces requires reliable roughness parameters. In order to specify the appropriate parameters for nanoscale roughness measurements, we compared the root mean square (rms) roughness and the relative surface area (sdr) as function of varying scan size, speed and pixel size. By using oxygen plasma (24 kJ) treated SU-8 with an average rms roughness of 2.6 ± 0.5 nm as reference surface, the repeatability of the method was evaluated for dynamic (tapping) and contact mode. The evaluation of AFM images indicated a decrease of the effective tip radius after a few measurements. This degradation of the tip lowers the resolution of the image and can affect roughness measurements.     

Analyses of vibration responses on nanoscale processing in a liquid using tapping-mode atomic force microscopy

An analytical solution of the vibration responses of biological specimens using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which often requires operation in a liquid, is developed. In this study, the modal superposition method is employed to analyze the vibration responses of AFM cantilevers in tapping mode (TM) operated in a liquid and in air. The hydrodynamic force exerted by the fluid on AFM cantilevers is approximated by additional mass and hydrodynamic damping. The tip–sample interaction forces were transformed into axial, distributed transversal, and bending loading, and then applied to the end region of the AFM through the tip holder. The effects of transverse stress and bending stress were adopted to solve the dynamic model. With this model, a number of simulations were carried out to investigate the relationship between the transient responses of the cantilever in a liquid and the parameters considered in nanoscale processing. The simulations show that the vibration of AFM cantilevers in a liquid has dramatically different dynamic characteristics from these of that in air. The liquid reduces the magnitude of the transversal response and reduces the cantilever resonances. Moreover, the magnitudes of response become larger with increasing intermolecular distances and smaller with decreasing tip length. The cantilever vibration amplitudes significantly depend on the damping constant and the mass proportionality constant.     

Estimating thermal transport in deep X-ray lithography with an inversion method

This study proposes a general methodology for estimating the depth profile of the heat source of the thermal transport system during deep X-ray lithography. The exposure process in a lithography system is considered as an inverse heat conduction problem with an unknown heat source. The conjugate gradient method is used to solve the inverse problem. Numerical results confirm that the method proposed herein can accurately estimate the heat source even involving the inevitable measurement errors. Furthermore, this methodology can also be applied to estimate the local distribution of temperatures when using scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) to microthermally machine materials and will contribute to increase the quality of microthermally machined products. In addition, a thermomechanical data-storage system, which utilizes a resistively heated atomic-force-microscopy (AFM) cantilever tip to read and write data bits, can also adopt this inverse methodology to control the temperature of a polymer substrate.     

原子力显微镜探针耦合变形下的微观扫描力研究

原子力显微镜(AFM)的微探针系统是典型的微机械构件，它在接触扫描过程处于耦合变形状态.采用数值模拟方法探究恒力模式下探针耦合变形对微观扫描力信号、微观形貌信号的影响.研究表明，AFM的恒力模式扫描中，法向扫描力并不是恒定大小，与轴向扫描力存在耦合作用，在粗糙峰峰值增加阶段，二力均增加；在粗糙峰峰值减小阶段，二力均减小；该耦合作用随形貌坡度、针尖长度等增加而加强.微观形貌的测试信号和横向扫描侧向力信号受探针耦合变形影响较小，但侧向力与形貌斜率密切相关，且其极值点与形貌极值点存在位置偏差，这些结果均与原子力 关键词： 原子力显微镜 探针悬臂梁 耦合变形 扫描力     

Exploring the facets of “soft crystals” using an Atomic Force Microscope

We obtained monocrystalline droplets in a thermotropic cubic phase, of approximate size 100μm, deposited on a flat surface. The facets of these soft crystals are explored using both an optical microscope and an AFM. The height of individual steps on the principal facets and the lateral distance between steps in vicinal facets are measured using AFM in imaging (tapping) mode. Moreover, the elastic modulus is measured locally, using the AFM tip (in contact mode) as a local rheological probe.     

Measurements of metal-polymer adhesion properties with dynamic force spectroscopy

We investigate nanoscale interface properties using dynamic mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) operated in the frequency modulation mode in ultrahigh vacuum. The AFM tip was was functionalised by a thin layer of aluminium and the polymer was treated by plasma-etching. In the spectroscopy mode we could measure the adhesion properties between the metal and the polymer surfaces. We found that plasma-etching of the polymer resulted in strongly enhanced force interactions, indicating a chemical activation of the polymer surface. Values for the adhesion force and work of adhesion were measured on the nanometer scale and are compared to conventional macroscopic adhesion failure tests.     

Electrical performance of gallium nitride nanocolumns

The electrical characterization of gallium nitride (GaN) nanocolumns with a length up to 1 μm and a diameter of about 30–80 nm grown on doped silicon is a challenge for nano analytics. To determine the conductivity of these nanocolumns, I–V characteristics were recorded by atomic force microscopy (AFM). To measure the conductivity of a single nanocolumn, a conductive AFM tip was placed at the top of the nanocolumn. The measured current/voltage characteristic of a single nanocolumn shows the typical performance of a Schottky contact, which is caused by the contact between the metallic AFM tip and the semiconductor material of the nanocolumn. The height of the Schottky barrier is dependent on the work function of the AFM tip metal used. The linear part of the curve was used to calculate the differential resistance, which was found to be about 13 Ω cm and slightly dependent on the diameter.     

Theoretical Study on the Capillary Force between an Atomic Force Microscope Tip and a Nanoparticle

Considering that capillary force is one of the most important forces between nanoparticles and atomic force microscope （AFM） tips in ambient atmosphere, we develop an analytic approach on the capillary force between an AFM tip and a nanoparticle. The results show that the capillary forces are considerably affected by the geometry of the AFM tip, the humidity of the environment, the vertical distance between the AFM tip and the nanoparticle, as well as the contact angles of the meniscus with an AFM tip and a nanoparticle. It is found that the sharper the AFM tip, the smaller the capillary force. The analyses and results are expected to be helpful for the quantitative imaging and manipulating of nanoparticles by AFMs.     

AFM tip gauge by nuclear tracks methodology

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) instrumentation in the different modes of operation is a metrologic system for evaluating some surface properties of solid and semisolid materials. The resolution of this instrument depends strongly on the tip sharpness, which can be changed by contamination of the AFM tip apex due to wearing and/or breaking. In order to assess new and old tips, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) inspection is often used, which is not very convenient due to the availability and demand of SEM services. In the market there are some expensive devices for verification of the tip geometry, and for the particular case of AFM in the tapping mode, a simple proposal has been published based on fiber-like samples. In this work, we present an AFM tip gauge device based on the use of a pattern of etched tracks on CR-39 material. For the preparation of the device, the requirements are a radioactive alpha particle source with specific energy, controlled temperature bath and KOH solution, with all these parameters optimized for the tip evaluation, based on the AFM profilometry image. This work shows another interesting and a very useful application of nuclear tracks methodology (NTM).     

Effect of tip mass on frequency response and sensitivity of AFM cantilever in liquid

The effect of tip mass on the frequency response and sensitivity of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever in the liquid environment is investigated. For this purpose, using Euler–Bernoulli beam theory and considering tip mass and hydrodynamic functions in a liquid environment, an expression for the resonance frequencies of AFM cantilever in liquid is derived. Then, based on this expression, the effect of the surface contact stiffness on the flexural mode of a rectangular AFM cantilever in fluid is investigated and compared with the case where the AFM cantilever operates in the air. The results show that in contrast with an air environment, the tip mass has no significant impact on the resonance frequency and sensitivity of the AFM cantilever in the liquid. Hence, analysis of AFM behaviour in liquid environment by neglecting the tip mass is logical.