Nanopatterning of an organic monolayer covered Si (1 1 1) surfaces by atomic force microscope scratching

In the present work, an atomic force microscope (AFM) mounted with a diamond-coated tip was used to scratch through organic monolayer covered Si surfaces to create nanostructures by electrodeposition. The organic layer (1-octadecene) was covalently attached to a hydrogen-terminated Si (1 1 1) surface. Copper was deposited into the nanostructures either by immersion plating or electrodeposition. The morphology of copper deposits was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The influence of the different types of semiconductor substrates (1-octadecene covered n-type Si and p-type Si) and different parameters such as immersion time on the copper deposition morphology is presented. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) scans were performed to obtain information of the selectivity and the copper deposition. The results show clearly that under optimized conditions the organic layer can be used as an effective mask for the site selective patterning of copper nanostructures on Si.