Current patterning of 6H–SiC(0 0 0 1) surface by AFM

The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) with the conducting cantilever has been used as a tool for controlled printing the well-defined shapes of conductive paths on the 6H–SiC(0 0 0 1) surface as well as paths connecting the shapes. For clean 6H–SiC(0 0 0 1) samples the metal-tip/sample contact is of the diode type. The conditions have been found (tip/sample voltage, current) for which the local morphology of the surface is modified during current flow between the tip and the sample. Such a modified surface shows quite a different conduction type of the tip/sample surface contact than that of the unmodified surface.