Aqueous electro-oxidative probe-based patterning of diamond-like carbon films

摘要

The production of gaseous H-2 and CO/CO2 by aqueous electro-oxidation of solid carbon is a well-established process. It can be used as a method for masked and maskless local probe-induced lithography of conducting ion-beam assisted CVD deposited diamond-like carbon films. The masking route constitutes a parallel rapid processing technology, while the local probe method is a serial technology with a higher spatial resolution. The reaction cell is either a reservoir of bulk fluid or a thin adsorbed film. In the latter case the cell will be attached to the probe tip by the meniscus effect; the tip becomes a travelling electrode while the spatial extent of the cell defines the lateral spatial resolution of the pattern down to about 10 nm. The process is constrained kinetically in the early stages by limitations on charge transport through the surface barrier at the fluid-to-solid interface, and subsequently by the availability of oxidants and by their arrival at the reactive sites. The results may have implications for new technologies exploiting the properties of carbon-based materials, but may also add to our present understanding of the electrochemistry of carbon solids.