Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has recently demonstrated a great potential in the domain of nanolithography. Particularly, AFM nanomachining has many advantages, such as easy operation on any substrates, nano scale resolution etc. There are already many related research activities on the fabrication of nano scale components and structures. We have employed AFM nano-machining to produce nanogroove nanostructures by operating a tip on a single-layer resist. A Ni thin film was coated on the substrate by e-beam evaporation. The sample was finally soaked in acetone to remove PMMA. A minimum Ni nanodot width of about 70 nm was obtained. Then the sample was put into a rapid thermal annealing furnace with gas flow of Ar and H2 mixture. Finally, the selective growth of silica nanowires with uniform diameter was achieved. By EDS analysis, the compositions of the silica nanowires were confirmed to be silicon and oxygen. On the top of the nanowires, nanoparticles were found and indicated a vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. By controlling the growth parameters, both straight and helical nanowires were successfully produced.