A hybrid roll-to-roll AFM set-up for high throughput tip-based nano-machining

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) machining, where the tip of the AFM probe is employed as a cutting tool, has demonstrated potential capabilities for conducting cost-effective material removal operations at nano-scale. When this process is conducted on standard AFM systems however, machining operations are restricted to relatively small processing areas and are also typically associated with low throughput. In this paper, the feasibility of implementing AFM tip-based machining is investigated when retrofitting a customised roll-to-roll inspired module on the stage of a commercial AFM instrument. The experimental results, obtained when processing thin PMMA sheets, show that nano-scale grooves can be produced over several centimetres with such a hybrid set-up. The initial cutting speed attained in this research, which could be readily increased in future trials, was 32 mm/min. It was also observed that the quality of the grooves and the associated machining forces were strongly dependent on the cutting direction, defined by the relative orientation of the tip with the direction of motion of the polymer sheet.