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We report parallel topographic imaging and nanolithography using heated microcantilever arrays integrated into a commercial atomic force microscope (AFM). The array has five AFM cantilevers, each of which has an internal resistive heater. The temperatures of the cantilever heaters can be monitored and controlled independently and in parallel. We perform parallel AFM imaging of a region of size 550 μm × 90 μm, where the cantilever heat flow signals provide a measure of the nanometer-scale substrate topography. At a cantilever scan speed of 1134 μm s−1, we acquire a 3.1 million-pixel image in 62 s with noise-limited vertical resolution of 0.6 nm and pixels of size 351 nm × 45 nm. At a scan speed of 4030 μm s−1 we acquire a 26.4 million pixel image in 124 s with vertical resolution of 5.4 nm and pixels of size 44 nm × 43 nm. Finally, we demonstrate parallel nanolithography with the cantilever array, including iterations of measure-write-measure nanofabrication, with each cantilever operating independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report fabrication of silicon nano-mechanical resonators where the key nanolithography step is performed by using tip-based nanofabrication (TBN). Specifically, a heated atomic force microscope tip deposited polystyrene nanowires that were used together with a lithographically patterned aluminum to serve as an etch mask for silicon resonators their anchors. Using this nanofabrication technique, we demonstrate the fabrication of different types of silicon nano-mechanical resonator devices, including those that are either singly or doubly clamped and having either straight or curvilinear features. Typical dimensions for the width and thickness of these devices is in the range of several hundred nanometers. We characterized the mechanical resonance properties of these devices by using laser Doppler vibrometry and compared the measured response with finite element simulations. Typical resonance frequency values ranged from 1 to 3 MHz and typical quality factor values ranged from 100 to 150. The combination of TBN along with conventional microfabrication processes could help to realize new types of nano-devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report fabrication of arbitrary shapes of silicon and silicon oxide nanostructures using tip-based nanofabrication (TBN). A heated atomic force microscope (AFM) tip deposits molten polymer on a substrate to form polymer nanostructures that serve as etch mask to fabricate silicon or silicon oxide nanostructures. The authors demonstrate how TBN can be combined with conventional wet etching as well as metal-assisted chemical etching, in order to fabricate these nanostructures. The size of the TBN-fabricated silicon nanostructures is around 200 nm. Silicon nanostructures fabricated using metal-assisted chemical etch can have very smooth sidewalls with, roughness as small as 2 nm. The authors show fabrication of arbitrary shapes of silicon and silicon oxide nanostructures including those with curved and circular shapes. Our results show that TBN using a heated AFM tip can function as an additive nanolithography technique with minimum contamination, and is compatible with existing nanofabrication methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]