A current assisted deposition method based on contact mode atomic force microscope

This paper introduces a novel AFM deposition method. In contrast to traditional method, the method in this paper has two differences. Firstly in our method AFM works in contact mode. AFM tip presses on substrate slightly in contact mode and it does not need to control AFM tip-substrate separation precisely, which makes AFM deposition easy to carry out. Secondly current is applied to AFM tip to induce deposition instead of voltage. By applying current, uniform nanodots can be fabricated repeatedly. Furthermore, nanolines can be fabricated directly in a single action with the method. The method is potential to be used for soldering nanowires or fabricating nanostructures.