1998/05/27 by B. Irmer, Bernd Irmer, M. Kehrle +6 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications #FOS: Physical sciences #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9805350
arxiv created 1998/05/27 · openalex publication_date 1998/05/27 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2019/06/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study local oxidation induced by dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM), commonly called TappingMode AFM. This minimizes the field induced forces, which cause the tip to blunt, and enables us to use very fine tips. We are able to fabricate Ti/TiOx line grids with 18 nm period and well defined isolating barriers as small as 15 nm. These junctions show a non-linear current-voltage characteristic and an exponential dependence of the conductance on the oxide width, indicating tunneling as the dominant conduction mechanism. From the conductance - barrier width dependence we derive a barrier height of 178 meV. Numerical calculations of the lateral field distribution for different tip geometries allow to design the optimum tip for the most localised electric field. The electron-beam-deposition (EBD) technique makes it possible to actually produce tips of the desired geometry.