Effect of surface functional groups on nanostructure fabrication using AFM lithography

The surface functional group dependency of atomic force microscope (AFM) lithography was investigated using three kinds of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a resist film on silicon wafer. The amine-modified surface of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, phenyl-modified surface of phenyltriethoxysilane and methyl-modified surface of octadecyltrichlorosilane SAMs were investigated. The characterizations of these SAMs were carried out by ellipsometer, contact angle goniometer and AFM. The effect of applied voltage of AFM lithography on the line-height and the effect of surface chemical functionality of the resist film on the line-width are discussed in this paper.