Nanoscale science department

Local oxidation Here, we focus on our recent work on the local oxidation of semiconductors and thin metal films under ambient conditions. The capability to oxidize metals and semiconductors with nanometer-scale resolution opens a variety of possibilities to improve current electronic devices such as field-effect transistors and allows the fabrication of novel electronic devices such as single-electron transistors. This site consists of the following two sections (to access them you may also use the navigation bar on the left): AFM Oxidation:  We use a negatively biased AFM tip in the contact mode to  write 10-100 nm thin oxide lines in semiconductors and metals. Current-induced local oxidation (CILO):  We employ high lateral current densities in thin metal films to form 10-50 nm thin oxide barriers. The atomic-force microscope (AFM) image above gives an example where   oxide lines of about 20 nm width were used to define the silicon dioxide pattern "IBM NANO" on a silicon wafer. [Research home page] [ IBM home page | Order | Search | ContactIBM | Legal ]