A study of oxide patterning on titanium thin films using scanning probe microscopy

Abstract

This work studies the fabrication of oxide patterns on titanium (Ti) thin films using scanning probe microscopy (SPM). We employed three different SPM techniques, namely, AFM in contact mode, lift mode incorporated with contact mode AFM, and STM. It was found that bias voltages.. scanning speed, scanning height of the probe (for lift mode), and setpoint current (for STM) play important roles in forming the attainable oxide features. Among these three methods, contact mode AFM exhibited the best patterning efficiency and stability and this method was adopted to oxidize the I-shaped Ti films. The resistance of I-shaped specimen after anoxidization raised from 10(4)Omega to 10(8)_10(9)Omega which evidenced the occurrence of oxidation in Ti.