Field-induced manipulation of Ag clusters for tailoring of nanostructures on a silicon surface

We devised new nanofabrication methods using a manipulation of self-organiz ed Ag clusters on Sb-terminated Si(100) surfaces by a scanning tunneling mi croscope (STM) tip. Various kinds of nanostructures could be manufactured b y dot-by-dot manipulation. We found that two methods could be used for thos e fabrications; (1) Ag clusters could be detached and redeposited by a fiel d-induced manipulation using an STM tip and (2) Ag clusters could be also d etached from the surface via the formation of mechanical point contact betw een the tip and clusters. These fabrication methods were systematically inv estigated with variation of manipulation conditions such as a bias voltage and a tip-sample distance. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(99 )03904-4].