Simulations of Local Oxidation Nanolithography by AFM Based on the Generated Electric Field

During the last decades it has become evident that novel lithographic techniques are required in order to fabricate nanosized devices. It has been shown that non-contact AFM is an efficient technique, capable of manufacturing nanometer sized devices on the surface of a silicon wafer. The AFM nanooxidation approach is based on generating a potential difference between a cantilever needle tip and a silicon wafer. A simulator for nanooxidation with non-contact AFM tools was developed. The presented model uses empirical equations for the height and halfwidth of an AFM nanodot with a physics based shape model. The shape model uses a particle distribution directly derived from the surface charge density, generated on the silicon surface due to the strong electric field in the region.