Nanolithography on SrRuO3 thin film surfaces by scanning tunneling microscopy

Nanolithography on SrRuO3 (SRO) thin film surfaces has been performed by a scanning tunneling microscope under ambient conditions. The depth of etched lines increases with increasing bias voltage but it does not change significantly by increasing the tunneling current. The dependence of line-width on bias voltage from experimental data is in agreement with theoretical calculation based on field-induced evaporation mechanism. Moreover, a three-square nanostructure was successfully created, showing the capability of fabricating nanodevices in SRO thin films.