Speed dependence of thermochemical nanolithography for gray-scale patterning

Thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL) is a high-resolution lithographic technique and, owing to its fast speed, versatility, and unique ability to fabricate arbitrary, gray-scale nanopatterns, this scanning probe technique is relevant both for fundamental scientific research as well as for nanomanufacturing applications. In this work, we study the dependence of the TCNL driven chemical reactions on the translation speed of the thermal cantilever. The experimental data compares well with a model of the chemical kinetics for a first-order reaction. The impact of higher order reactions on the optimization of TCNL is addressed. The reported quantitative description of the speed dependence of TCNL is exploited and illustrated by fabricating controlled gradients of chemical concentration. Speed control: Thermochemical nanolithography is a versatile, high-speed patterning technique capable of gray-scale chemical patterning with nanoscale resolution. Localized chemical reactions driven by a thermal cantilever enable controlled submicron variations in a diverse set of materials. Here, the technique is extended by providing a quantitative description of how the cantilever speed alters the reaction rate and controls the extent of product formation at a surface.