NANOLITHOGRAPHY ON HYDROGEN-TERMINATED SILICON BY SCANNING-PROBE MICROSCOPY

Scanning-probe microscopes (SPM), i.e. the scanning-tunneling and forc e microscopes, can be used to locally oxidize hydrogen-terminated sili con and hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Because of its reliability and potential for pattern transfer, this lithography process has found gr eat attention and has become a prototype process for SPM nanolithograp hy. The local oxidization can be performed in ambient or ultra-high va cuum (UHV), and it is initiated by strong electric fields, electron im pact, or by short-wavelength light. In this article, the progress of t his subfield of nanolithography is reviewed. Emphasis will be on the p rocess conducted in humid environments were a fairly solid understandi ng is emerging. For completeness, important experiments performed in U HV will be discussed briefly. Finally, recent applications of this pro cess technique to the fabrication of electronic devices will be presen ted.