Measurement and deposition of nanometer-scale Cu dot using an atomic force microscope with a nanopipette probe in liquid condition

In this study, we developed novel techniques of nanometer-scale measurement and deposition using an atomic force microscope (AFM) with a nanopipette in liquid condition. The nanopipette, filled with CuSO 4 electrolyte solution, was employed as the AFM probe. Observation and deposition of nanometer-scale Cu dots were carried out using the nanopipette probe. In order to avoid drying of the nanopipette solution and clogging of the probe-edge aperture, Cu dots were deposited and measured in liquid condition. As for the measurement of the surface, the nanopipette probe was glued on a tuning fork quartz crystal resonator (TF-QCR) to detect a probe oscillation and vertically oscillated to use a method of frequency modulation in tapping-mode AFM. With regard to the deposition of nanometer-scale Cu dot, an electrode wire inside the electrolyte-filled nanopipette and conductive surface of Au coated glass slide were employed as the anode and cathode, respectively. By utilizing the probe-surface distance control during the deposition, nanometerscale Cu dot were successfully deposited on Au surface without the diffusion. Then, the deposited dots were observed by using the nanopipette probe. This technique of the local deposition in the liquid would be applicable for various fields such as fabrication of micro/nanometer-scale devices and arrangement of biological samples.