Nanoscale lithography on Langmuir–Blodgett films of behinic acid

Abstract
By increasing the force when scanning with an atomic force microscope, it was possible to scratch holes in a monolayer of behinic acid. Patterns with a line width of 50 to 90 nm were ‘‘written’’ with an applied force of ≊70 nN within a few minutes. The measured depth was consistent with the height of a monolayer of behinic acid with tilted chains (≊2 nm). Ten hours later, the pattern was imaged again and no change was found when an applied force of ≊10 nN was used. Contrary to other monolayers, which often have hole defects, the behinic acid monolayer was free of such defects and seemed, in particular, well suited for nanoscale lithography. Based on several different images, a model of how the tip removes the monolayer was formulated.

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