Patterning of octadecylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers on Si(100) usingAr(P-3(0,2)) atoms

We report the use of metastable Ar(P-3(0,2)) atoms and a physical mask to p attern octadecylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers grown directly on silico n surfaces. The damage to the monolayer is confirmed using lateral force mi croscopy, changes in hydrophilicity, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy a nalysis. Metastable atom exposures sufficient to uniformly damage the monol ayer should allow pattern transfer to the underlying Si(100) substrate foll owing chemical and plasma etching. With optical manipulation of the inciden t metastable atoms, this technique could provide the basis for massively pa rallel nanoscale fabrication on silicon. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(99)04903-3].