STM writing of artificial nanostructures in alkanethiol-type self-assembled monolayers

We report on the fabrication of artificial nanostructures in ultrathin resist films patterned by STM-lithography in ultrahigh vacuum ambience. A special type of resist, an alkanethiol-type Self-Assembled-Monolayer (SAM), has been patterned by an UHV-STM. The SAM patterns were investigated by STM without modifying the surface. Pattern width down to 15 nm were reproducibly achieved with 1 V bias voltage and 1 nA tip current. The SAM-films are formed spontaneously by immersing a Au(111)-single crystal or an appropriate gold-covered substrate into a 1 mM ethanolic solution of hexadecanthiol (CH3(CH2)(15)SH) for 24 h. The results show the capability of STM-lithography as an attractive alternative to conventional e-beam-lithography for the fabrication of lateral nanostructures in matter. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.