SPM NANOSCRATCHING IN THE SUB 100 NM RESOLUTION

Scanning probe microscopy ( SPM ) is tool basically used for surface characterization. Besides that, it offers several lithographic methods (e.g. nanoscratching) to prepare structures in the sub 100 nm resolution. The nanoscratching using SPM offers a method for patterning of surface with a very high resolution based on near field interaction. By this method some tiny marks or taggants could be prepared. Therefore we used the SPM nanoscratching for preparation of nanostructures in thin soft polymer films by various tips. Nanoscratching regime of SPM is possible to operate in contact and close contact modes. In the contact mode we prepared an array of stamps with a variable size, where dimensions and depth dependency on number of pixels were inspected. For writing of these structures we used polymer films with different softness (e.g. PMMA, SU-8) and various values of setpoint, which are responsible for structures deepness. The set of line patterns was written in both contact and close contact mode of SPM with the same values of setpoints and writing speed. The depths of the structures were compared for these two writing modes. Also a precise positioning of prepared patterns in these two modes was evaluated.