Scanning probe with an integrated diamond heater element for nanolithography

This letter reports the microfabrication, evaluation, and application of a boron-doped diamond microprobe with an integrated resistive heater element. The diamond heater with a pyramidal tip, which is formed at the end of two diamond beams, can be electrically heated by a flowing current. The high thermal conductivity of the diamond base supporting the heater element allows very quick thermal response of 0.45 μs. A hard-wearing sharp diamond tip formed by the silicon-lost mold technique shows excellent durability in contact operation with a sample. Diamond is well suited to use as a nanolithography tool for modification of a polymer, because polymer is hard to deposit on the tip during scanning due to the chemical inertness of the diamond surface. Demonstration of thermomechanical nanolithography with this heated probe exhibits line patterns with the feature size of 40 nm on a poly(methylmethacrylate) film.