Cleaning of nanostructures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018071797-A1
Application number	US-201715463383-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Sep 13, 2016
Publication date	Mar 15, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for removing a polymeric material from a surface of a nanostructure. The method includes applying, by a scanning probe microscope, an electrical field between a probe tip of the scanning probe microscope and the nanostructure, and simultaneously scanning over the surface of the nanostructure. Thereby, bonds connecting the polymeric material to the surface of the nanostructure are broken. A further step includes cleaning the surface of the nanostructure. A scanning probe microscope for performing such a method and a computer program product for controlling the scanning probe microscope are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A scanning probe microscope comprising:
a probe tip having an apex tip area of more than 300 nm 2 ; a voltage source for applying a bias voltage between the probe tip and a nanostructure; a sample positioner configured to position the nanostructure in relation to the probe tip; and a system controller configured to control the scanning probe microscope; wherein the scanning probe microscope comprises a cleaning mode and wherein the cleaning mode is configured to: apply an electrical field between the probe tip and the nanostructure in order to break bonds connecting a polymeric material to the surface of the nanostructure; and scan over the surface of the nano structure.

2 . A scanning probe microscope as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the scanning probe microscope is embodied as electrostatic force microscope.

3 . A scanning probe microscope as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system controller is configured to apply in the cleaning mode a loading force between the probe tip and the nanostructure between 0.5 nN and 10 nN.

4 . A scanning probe microscope as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system controller is configured to control the strength of the electrical field such that the electrical field between the probe tip and the nanostructure is in a range between 10 2 V/m and 10 6 V/m.

5 . A scanning probe microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the apex tip area is less than 10000 nm 2 .

6 . A scanning probe microscope according to claim 1 , the scanning probe microscope comprising a cantilever, wherein the probe tip is arranged on the cantilever.

7 . A computer program product for controlling a scanning probe microscope according to claim 1 , said computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon; and program instructions executable by the controller of the scanning probe microscope to cause the scanning probe microscope to perform a cleaning mode, the cleaning mode comprising: applying an electrical field between the probe tip and a nanostructure; and scanning over the surface of the nanostructure, thereby breaking bonds connecting a polymeric material to the surface of the nanostructure.

8 . A scanning probe microscope comprising:
a metal coated probe tip; a voltage source to apply a bias voltage between the probe tip and a sample, the bias voltage being between 0.5 V and 2 V; a sample positioner to position the sample in relation to the probe tip; and a system controller to control the scanning probe microscope.

9 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the probe tip has an apex tip area of more than 300 nm 2 and less than 10000 nm 2 .

10 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 9 , wherein the probe tip has an apex tip area between 1000 nm 2 and 7500 nm 2 .

11 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the system controller applies a loading force between the probe tip and the sample between 0.5 nN and 10 nN.

12 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the system controller controls a strength of an electrical field between the probe tip and the sample between 10 2 V/m and 10 6 V/m.

13 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , further comprising a cantilever, the probe tip being on the cantilever.

14 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the sample positioner moves in three directions orthogonal to each other.

15 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein the probe tip is coated with gold or platinum.

16 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 8 , wherein a distance between the probe tip and the sample is between 25 nm and 100 nm.

17 . A scanning probe microscope comprising:
a probe tip having an apex tip area of more than 300 nm 2 and less than 10000 nm 2 ; a voltage source to apply a bias voltage between the probe tip and a sample; a sample positioner to position the sample in relation to the probe tip; and a system controller to control the scanning probe microscope, the system controller to control a strength of an electrical field between the probe tip and the sample between 10 2 V/m and 10 6 V/m and to apply a loading force between the probe tip and the sample between 0.5 nN and 10 nN.

18 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 17 , wherein the probe tip is coated with a conductive material.

19 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 17 , wherein a distance between the probe tip and the sample is between 25 nm and 100 nm.

20 . The scanning probe microscope according to claim 17 , wherein the probe tip has an apex tip area between 1000 nm 2 and 7500 nm 2 .

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Nirmalraj Pio Peter Niraj

Classifications

• C01B32/17

  Purification · CPC title

• C01B32/196

  Purification · CPC title

• C01B32/194

  After-treatment · CPC title

• B81C1/00841

  Cleaning during or after manufacture (cleaning of semiconductor devices H10P50/00) · CPC title

• C01B32/168

  After-treatment · CPC title