Abstract:
In a lithographic process suitable for use in the manufacture of electronic components, oxidative reactions are employed to reproducibly fabricate patterns having micro- or nano-scale dimensions. An electrically-conductive template is fabricated to have a nanometer-scale sharp edge and describe a pattern having a micron-scale length. The oxidative reaction is mediated by a water meniscus connecting the sharp edge of the template and an oxidizable substrate. One suitable substrate is graphene. The template can be controllably positioned using a light lever method.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/164,101, filed Mar. 27, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/216,298, filed May 16, 2009, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-FUNDED RESEARCH 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to lithographic processes suitable for use in the manufacture of electronic components, more particularly, a lithography process employing oxidative reactions to fabricate patterns having micro- or nano-scale dimensions. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Features having micro and nano-scale dimensions can be etched into oxidizable materials by a lithographic technique known as local anodic oxidation. In air or other humid atmospheres, structures, such as the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM), are covered by thin films of ambient water. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , when an AFM tip  10  sufficiently close to, but not touching, the surface  12  of a substrate  14 , a capillary effect causes the adsorbed layer of water to form a water meniscus  16 , electrically linking the tip  10  to the substrate  14 . The water meniscus  16  is dragged along the substrate  12  by moving the tip  10  in a spatial scan. A voltage is applied across the tip  10  and the substrate  14  to dissociate water in the meniscus to hydrogen ion (H + ) and hydroxyl ion (OH − ), thus oxidizing the substrate  14 . The voltage is maintained for a hold time sufficient to remove the substrate to the desired depth or width. Removal of the oxidized material (not shown) leaves a trench  18  in the substrate  14 , the shape of which follows the pattern traced by the tip. For graphene-based materials, the oxidized carbon is typically volatilized as carbon dioxide. 
         [0005]    Process parameters such as applied voltage, hold time, radius of curvature of the tip, the distance between the tip, and ambient humidity, can be varied during the etching process to control the dimensions of the features. Increasing the applied voltage across the tip  10  and substrate  14  increases the rate at which H+ and OH− are generated, thus increasing the rate at which the substrate  14  is oxidized and creating a wider (or deeper) trench  18 . Increasing the hold time also increases the width or depth of the trench  18 , because of the increased duration of the oxidative reactions. Increasing the radius of curvature of the tip, decreasing the distance between the tip and the substrate, or increasing the humidity in the environment of the tip each results in a wider meniscus, and thus a wider etched feature. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In a method of reproducibly forming a pattern having a nanoscale dimension in an oxidizable substrate, a templated chip is fabricated so as to have an electrically-conductive raised template with an edge having a width that is less than about 30 nm and describing a pattern having a length of at least 1000 nm along one dimension of the pattern. The template is positioned over the oxidizable substrate in an atmosphere having a relative humidity of at least 20%, such that a water meniscus forms an electrical connection between the edge of the template and the substrate. In some embodiments of the invention, the distance between the edge of the template and the substrate is in the range of about 20 nm to about 50 nm. A voltage is then applied across the template and the substrate so as to oxidize substrate material that is in contact with the meniscus. The templated chip can be positioned using an electrically-conductive positioning sensor by application of the light lever principle. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0007]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a sequenced set of schematic drawings illustrating a single-tip etching process for formation of micro- or nano-scale patterns according to the prior art; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of a dielectric substrate being etched by a serial single-tip local oxidation process; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a dielectric substrate that has been etched by a serial single-tip local oxidation process to form quantum dots of a dielectric material; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a schematic hierarchical diagram showing two levels of detail of a single-electron transistor comprising quantum dots; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a templated chip for forming a micro- or nano-scale pattern on a surface during a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view of an assembly comprising the templated chip of  FIG. 5  on a position sensor for use with an atomic force microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is schematic front view of the assembly of  FIG. 6  positioned over a substrate during a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a schematic top orthogonal view of the substrate of  FIG. 7  after the nanolithographic process of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a schematic view of a templated chip according to an embodiment of the present invention, that is configured to produce a single-electron transistor having the same pattern as that of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a schematic corner view of the template of  FIG. 9  positioned over a substrate during a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  is a schematic top orthogonal view of the substrate of  FIG. 10  after the anodic oxidative flash-patterning process of  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0019]      FIGS. 12A-12G  are a sequenced set of schematic diagrams illustrating steps in a method of producing a templated chip for use in a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 13  is a schematic bottom orthogonal view of a templated chip on a positioning sensor for use in a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 14  is a front schematic view of the templated chip and positioning sensor of  FIG. 13  during a nanolithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIGS. 15A-15I  are a sequenced set of schematic diagrams illustrating steps in a method of producing a position sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 16  is a schematic end view of a templated chip set in the position sensor of  FIG. 15I ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 17  is a bottom orthogonal view of the templated chip and position sensor of  FIG. 16 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 18  is a data plot showing a relationship between the size of features formed in a substrate by a single-tip oxidative etching process at high humidity and the distance between the AFM tip used in the etching process and the substrate; 
           [0026]      FIG. 19  is a data plot showing a relationship between the size of features formed in a substrate by single-tip oxidative etching process at low humidity and the distance between the AFM tip used in the etching process and the substrate and 
           [0027]      FIG. 20  is a plot showing a relationship between feature width and hold times in a single-tip oxidative etching process. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    Conventional AFM oxidation lithographic processes are inherently serial since they rely on a single AFM tip to fabricate the entire pattern. For example, to fabricate a single 3 μm long trench in graphene, the tip may be moved pixel by pixel at a scan speed of 0.05 μm/s. While such a trench may be fabricated in minutes, repeating a pattern of 20 or 30 longer trenches over a 100 μm 2  area would take hours. For example,  FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a portion  20  of a graphene layer  22  on a silicon dioxide substrate  24  being etched using a single AFM tip  26 , exposing silicon dioxide  24  to define a series of quantum dots  28  surrounded by trenches  30 , which serve as electron tunneling barriers. The completed portion  20  is shown as  FIG. 3 . Such structures could be used in a single or thin-layer graphene transistor  32  made according to an embodiment of the present invention. A schematic representation of such a transistor  32 , without electrical leads, is shown in  FIG. 4  in relation to the portion  20  of the graphene layer  22  of  FIG. 3 . Such a transistor  32  could be on the order of a few square microns, but would require hours to fabricate using an AFM tip because of its complexity. Further, AFM tip material tends to be hydrophilic silicon. If the substrate is hydrophobic, like graphene, the moving tip tends to pick up the water meniscus and separate it from the substrate. This effect tends to leave undesirable gaps in the pattern, decreasing the utility of any structure formed by that method. For these reasons, it is impractical to etch complex patterns using AFM tip lithography. 
         [0029]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, a flash lithography technique, based on the general principles of AFM-tip local oxidation described above, can be used to precisely and controllably fabricate complex, large-area structures having nanoscale features (i.e., “nanostructures”). Such nanostructures can be produced at much higher rates by the disclosed flash lithography technique than by single-tip techniques. In brief, an electrically-conductive silicon chip is prepared with a raised template that can repeatedly create large-area nanostructures of any two-dimensional morphology on any material which can be locally oxidized. The pattern of the template is transferred to the substrate in a single flash-patterning step. Exemplary embodiments of the invention are discussed herein with respect to graphene substrates, but the technique may be applied to other substrates that are susceptible to local oxidation. For the purposes of the present disclosure a nanoscale feature is one having at least one dimension of less than 1000 nm, preferably in the range of about 10 nm to about 100 nm. In principle, line widths as small as 20 nm can be achieved using the flash lithography method disclosed herein. 
         [0030]    In a nanolithographic method according to an embodiment of the present invention, a position sensor is magnetically attached to the magnetic scanner of an AFM, and a templated silicon chip, such as that described above, is placed therein with the templated surface of the chip (i.e., the template) facing outward. Useful embodiments of the position sensor and templated chips are discussed elsewhere herein. By means of the AFM, the template is brought into close proximity to an oxidizable substrate (e.g., a layer of graphene on silicon dioxide). In some embodiments of the method, the template is brought to within 20 nm to 50 nm of the substrate. The ambient relative humidity in the environment of the template is adjusted to a user-defined value in the range of from about 20% to about 60%, causing the formation of a water meniscus between the template and the substrate that bridges the template and substrate and shadows the pattern of the template. A voltage is applied across the templated chip and the substrate for a set patterning time (i.e., a hold time), oxidizing the substrate only where it is linked to the template through the water meniscus. In some embodiments of the invention, the voltage is in the range of from about −4V to about −10V, and the hold time is in the range of from about 60 milliseconds (ms) to about 100 ms, depending on the material to be oxidized and the values of other process parameters. As a result of the oxidation, a pattern is formed in the substrate that matches the pattern of the template. Process parameters such as applied voltage, hold time, radius of curvature of the tip, the distance between the tip, and ambient humidity, can be varied during the nanolithographic process to control the dimensions of the features in the patterned substrate. The aforesaid nanolithographic method and the apparatus used to implement the method are described more fully with respect to the figures and examples discussed hereinbelow. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is schematic illustration of an exemplary templated silicon chip  34  that is suitable for use in a flash lithography technique according to an embodiment of the present invention. The templated chip  34  includes an electrically-conductive template  36  having a sharp edge  38  in the form of a letter “S”. The template  36  is integral with the silicon body  40  of the chip  34 , which also has a metallic layer  42  opposite the template  36 . In an embodiment of the present invention, the sharp edge  38  has a width in the range of about 10 nm to about 30 nm, with the width being limited by the method used to make the template  36  and the material of which the template  36  is made. An exemplary method of making such a chip  34  is described elsewhere herein. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a schematic illustration of the chip  34  mounted on a position sensor  44  for positioning the chip  34 . The position sensor  44  includes a silicon body  46  with a substantially flat face  48  having a recess (not shown) therein for receiving the chip  34 . The chip  34  is placed in the recess such that the template  36  faces outward from the position sensor  44 . The position sensor  44  further includes a number of cantilevers  50  having sharp tips  52  that extend away from the silicon body  46 . In some configurations, such as that of  FIG. 6 , the arms  50  may be roughly co-planar with the face  48 , and the tips  52  may be structurally similar to AFM tips. However, the cantilevers  50  are not necessary co-planar with the face  48 , or even straight (see, e.g.,  FIG. 7 ). The cantilevers  50  and the tips  52  are configured that contacting the tips  52  with a substrate (not shown) causes the template  36  to be spaced from the substrate by a desired distance. The cantilevers  50  and the tips  52  may be made of silicon, but should include an electrically-insulating material (e.g., silicon dioxide) where they approach or contact a substrate  54  of  FIG. 7 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 7  is a schematic front view of a chip  34  in place over an exemplary substrate  54  during a flash lithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate  54  includes a graphene layer  56  on a silicon dioxide insulating layer  58  formed on a silicon chip  60 . The arms  50  and tips  52  of the position sensor  44  maintain a set distance between the template  36  and the graphene layer  56 . A water meniscus  62  forms between the sharp edge  38  of the template  36  and the graphene layer  56 . The position sensor  44  is supported by an AFM (not shown), which also applies an electrical potential across the position sensor  44  and the substrate  54  to drive the oxidation reaction. The meniscus  62  provides the only direct electrical contact between the template  36  and the substrate  54 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  is a schematic orthogonal top view of the substrate  54  after completion of the flash lithographic step. An S-shaped portion  64  of the graphene layer  56  has been removed by oxidation and volatilization of the resulting CO 2 . Removal of the S-shaped portion  64  has exposed the silicon dioxide layer  58 , which does not oxidize. 
         [0035]    The exemplary flash lithography process disclosed herein can be applied to more complex patterns than that discussed with respect to  FIGS. 5-8 .  FIG. 9  is schematic illustration of a templated silicon chip  66  that includes an electrically-conductive template  68  that is suitable for forming a single-electron transistor such as transistor  32  of  FIG. 4 . The template  68  is formed with sharp edges, such as sharp edges  70 , which may have widths in the range of from about 10 nm to about 30 nm. In all other respects the chip  66  is similar to the chip  34  of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 10  is a schematic front view of the chip  66  in place over an exemplary substrate  72  during a flash lithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention. In practice, the chip  66  would be mounted in a position sensor, such as the position sensor  44  discussed with respect to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The substrate  72  includes a graphene layer  74  on a silicon dioxide insulating layer  76  formed on a silicon chip  78 . A water meniscus  79  forms between the sharp edges  70  of the template  68  and the graphene layer  74 , and has the contours of the template  68 . In all other respects, the flash lithography step may be same as that described with respect to  FIG. 7 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 11  is a schematic orthogonal top view of the substrate  72  after completion of the flash lithographic step. Trenches  80  have been formed by removal of the graphene layer  74  by oxidation and volatilization of the resulting CO 2 . Removal of the lines  80  has exposed the silicon dioxide layer  76 . The resulting trenches  80  match those of the template  68  and the transistor  32  of  FIG. 4 . 
         [0038]      FIGS. 12A-12G  are a sequenced set of schematic diagrams illustrating an exemplary method of forming templates, such as template  36  of  FIG. 5  and template  68  of  FIG. 9 , for use in a flash lithography process according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 12A , a layer  82  of silicon dioxide, a few nanometers thick, is formed on a surface  84  of a n-type ultra-flat silicon chip  86 . 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIG. 12B , a pattern  88  in the shape of the desired template is formed by spin-coating a layer (not shown) of a high-resolution electron-beam resist (e.g., hydrogen silsesquioxane, ZEP-520, Zeon Corp., Tokyo, Japan) onto the silicon dioxide layer  82 , defining the pattern  88  by electron-beam lithography, and removing the excess resist with a solvent (e.g., acetone) to expose the silicon dioxide  82  outside of the pattern  86 . Electron-beam lithography may be used to define patterns having line widths as small as about 20 nm. 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIG. 12C , the exposed silicon dioxide is then etched away (e.g., by a HF/NH 4 F solution or CH 4  reactive etching) to create a silicon dioxide mask  90  for the silicon chip  86 . 
         [0042]    Referring to  FIGS. 12C and 12D , the electron-beam resist pattern  88  is removed, the portion of the silicon surface  84  outside of the silicon dioxide mask  90  is etched away (e.g., by Cl 2  and HBr plasma etching) to a desired thickness, and the silicon dioxide mask  90  is etched away, leaving behind a silicon layer  92  with a raised template  94 . 
         [0043]    Referring to  FIG. 12E , the silicon layer  92  and template  94  are subjected to low-temperature oxidation (e.g., at a temperature of 950° C.) to sharpen the contours of the template  94 , depositing silicon dioxide to a thickness of about 1-2 nm and forming a sharp edge  96 , followed by ion implantation of boron to make the template  94  electrically-conductive. A heavy dose of boron may be needed to provide an adequate electrical conductivity in the template. The boron may be activated by annealing at a temperature of about 950° C. in nitrogen gas for about 30 minutes. 
         [0044]    Referring to  FIG. 12F , a photoresist layer  98  is spin-coated over the template  94  and adjacent portions of the silicon layer  92 , and a metallic layer  100  (e.g., a layer of nickel) is deposited on the back-side  102  of the silicon chip  86  so that it may provide an electrical and magnetic connection to an AFM. In an embodiment of the present invention, the metallic layer  100  is formed to a thickness in the range of from about 100 nm to about 200 nm. 
         [0045]    Referring to  FIG. 12G , the photoresist layer  98  is removed, exposing at least the template  94  formed on the silicon chip  86 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 13  is a schematic illustration of the chip  86  mounted to a silicon block  104 , such that the template  94  faces away from the block  104 . The block  104  is provided with spacers  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112  positioned around the chip  86 . The spacers  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112  are made of an electrically-insulating material and may be formed by deposition of silicon dioxide onto the silicon block  104  by methods known in the art. The spacers  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112  extend past the template  94  such that contacting the spacers  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112  with a substrate (not shown) causes the template  94  to be spaced away from the substrate by a desired distance. 
         [0047]      FIG. 14  is a schematic front view of the chip  86  in place over an exemplary substrate  114  during a flash lithographic process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate  114  includes a graphene layer  116  on a silicon dioxide insulating layer  118  formed on a silicon chip  120 . The spacers  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112  maintain a set distance between the template  94  and the graphene layer  116 . A water meniscus  122  forms between the sharp edge  96  of the template  94  and the graphene layer  116 . The block  104  is supported by an AFM (not shown), which also applies an electrical potential across the block  104  and substrate  114  to drive the oxidation reaction. 
         [0048]      FIGS. 15A-15I  are a sequenced set of schematic diagrams illustrating a method for fabricating a position sensor  124  (see  FIGS. 15H and 15I ) of the same type as the position sensor  44  discussed with respect to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . In all of the illustrated steps of the method (i.e.,  FIGS. 15A-15I ), the views are end views taken from the same direction as the end view of the position sensor  124  shown in  FIG. 15I . 
         [0049]    Referring to  FIG. 15A , layers  126 ,  128  of a positive electron beam resist are applied to the backside  130  of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer  132  in contact with the layers  126 ,  128  to protect the backside  130  of the SOI  132  during subsequent processing steps. The layers  126 ,  128  are formed by well-known methods of spin-coating and electron-beam lithography. 
         [0050]    Referring to  FIG. 15B , a metallic layer  134  (e.g., a layer of nickel) is deposited on the exposed area  136  of the backside  130  of the SOI wafer  132  so that the position sensor  124  may be electrically and magnetically connected to an AFM (note shown). In an embodiment of the present invention, the metallic layer  134  has a thickness in the range of from about 100 nm to about 200 nm. 
         [0051]    Referring to  FIG. 15C , a negative photoresist  138  is patterned onto the front side  140  of the SOI wafer  132  so as to define an exposed area  142  of the front side  140 . Silicon is then etched from the exposed area  142 . The silicon etching may be performed by methods using Cl 2  and HBr, or other methods known in the art. 
         [0052]    Referring to  FIG. 15D , the aforementioned silicon etching creates a recess  144  for receiving a templated chip  146  (see  FIG. 16 ) of the same type discussed with respect to  FIGS. 5 ,  9  and  12 A- 12 G. The negative photoresist  138  is then removed (e.g., by use of acetone) from areas  148 ,  150 . 
         [0053]    Referring to  FIG. 15E , removal of the negative photoresist  138  exposes portions (not shown) of the front side  140  of the SOI wafer  132  corresponding to areas  148 ,  150 . Layers  152 ,  154  of silicon dioxide, layers  156 ,  158  of silicon, and layers  160 ,  162  of silicon dioxide are exposed at the front side  140  using techniques described in J. Han et al., J. Micromech. Microeng. (2006), vol. 16, pp. 198-204 (hereinafter, “the Han Article”), which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Additional layers  164 ,  166  of silicon dioxide are added to the backside  130  of the SOI wafer  132 , to protect the SOI wafer  132  in contact with the silicon dioxide layers  164 ,  166 . 
         [0054]    Referring to  FIG. 15F , a layer of photoresist  168  is formed over the backside  130  of the SOI wafer  132  and the silicon dioxide layers  164 ,  166  to protect them during subsequent etching steps, and the upper silicon dioxide layers  152 ,  154  are etched so as to leave silicon dioxide remnants  170 ,  172  to protect the ends  174 ,  176  of the silicon layers  156 ,  158 , where conical tips  174 ,  176  (see  FIGS. 15G-15H ) will be formed distal to the SOI wafer  132 . Silicon layers  164 ,  166  are etched, and silicon dioxide remnants  170 ,  172  are removed to form conical tips  174 ,  176 , according to methods described in the Han Article. 
         [0055]    Referring to  FIG. 15G , the conical tips  174 ,  176  extend transversely from the etched silicon layers  156 ,  158 . The etched silicon layers  156 ,  158 , in combination with the respective conical tips  174 ,  176  are referred to hereinafter as cantilevers  178 ,  180 . The photoresist  168  is removed and the back side  130  of the SOI wafer  132  is etched, followed by etching of silicon dioxide layers  160 ,  162 ,  164 ,  166  (e.g., by using tetramethylammonium hydroxide at 80° C.) to free the cantilevers  178 ,  180 . The cantilevers  178 ,  180 , especially including the tips  174 , 176 , are made non-conductive by the deposition of silicon dioxide layers  182 ,  184 ,  186 ,  188 . Silicon dioxide layers  186 ,  188  should generally conform to the underlying tips  174 ,  176 . The photoresist  138  is then removed. The completed position sensor  124  is shown in end view in  FIG. 15I . 
         [0056]      FIG. 16  shows a templated chip  136  situated in the recess  144  of the position sensor  124 . The templated chip  136  may be of the same type as templated chips  34 ,  66 ,  86  discussed with respect to  FIGS. 5 ,  9  and  12 A- 12 G, respectively.  FIG. 17  is a bottom orthogonal view of the position sensor  124  with the templated chip  136  showing another view of the cantilevers  178 ,  180 , and additional cantilevers  182 ,  184  formed by an extension of the method discussed with respect to  FIGS. 15E-15I . The necessary steps of such an extension will be recognized by those having ordinary skill in the art and possession of the present disclosure. The position sensor  124  can be magnetically mounted to a conventional AFM scanner head. 
         [0057]    The position sensor  124  can be used as part of a sensor in a system for controlling the position and orientation of a templated chip relative to a substrate. The components of the system and their arrangement are not illustrated by a figure, but are described in sufficient detail herein to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to comprehend and construct such a system. Components of position sensor  124  are numbered with reference to  FIGS. 16 and 17 . 
         [0058]    Position sensing may be accomplished using a light lever technique. In an embodiment of the present invention, the position sensor  124  is mounted on the scanner head of an AFM, which moves the position sensor  124 . Separate laser beams are directed at each of the cantilevers  178 ,  180 ,  182 ,  184  from the backside  130  of the position sensor  124 . In an embodiment of the present invention, a beam from a single laser source is split by beam splitters to generate separate laser beam for each cantilever  178 ,  180 ,  182 ,  184 . Each laser beam is reflected off of the cantilever and onto the center of a four-quadrant diode, which is a device well-known in the art. As a cantilever  178 ,  180 ,  182 ,  184  is brought closer to the substrate, electrostatic forces cause it to deflect in the z-direction and laterally. This deflection is seen as a change in the position of the reflected laser beam and measured as a voltage differential between the top-bottom and left-right halves of the photodiode. Voltage differentials for the respective diodes can be compared through a simple feedback loop. This system will continuously monitor the position and orientation of the position sensor  124  relative to the substrate, allowing for manual or automatic control. 
         [0059]    The disclosed nanolithography technique can reproducibly transfer a pattern to a large area of substrate by a single application of voltage. Arrays of such patterns can be fabricated in a short amount of time simply by changing the lateral position of the templated chip. High reproducibility is achieved since the short patterning time and the rigidity of the templated chip configuration fortifies the technique against thermal or mechanical instability. Table 1 presents a comparison of an embodiment of the present invention with lithography techniques in the prior art. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Environ- 
                   
               
               
                 Technique 
                 Throughput 
                 Resolution 
                 Pattern 
                 ment 
                 Cost 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 AOL* 
                 Highly 
                 ~37 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 Ambient 
                 Very 
               
               
                   
                 Parallel 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 High 
               
               
                 EBL* 
                 Serial 
                 ~10 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 Vacuum 
                 High 
               
               
                 AEBL* 
                 Highly 
                 ~45 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 High 
                 Very 
               
               
                   
                 Parallel 
                   
                   
                   
                 Vacuum 
                 High 
               
               
                 NIL* 
                 Highly 
                 ~22 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 Ambient 
                 High 
               
               
                   
                 Parallel 
               
               
                 IL* 
                 Highly 
                 ~40 
                 nm 
                 Periodic 
                 Ambient 
                 Low 
               
               
                   
                 Parallel 
               
               
                 AFM* 
                 Serial 
                 ~15 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 Ambient 
                 Fair 
               
               
                 Parallel 
                 Parallel 
                 ~15 
                 nm 
                 Periodic 
                 Ambient 
                 Fair 
               
               
                 AFM* 
                   
                   
                   
                 Arbitrary** 
               
               
                 Local 
                 Highly 
                 ~10-30 
                 nm 
                 Arbitrary 
                 Ambient 
                 Low 
               
               
                 Oxidation 
               
               
                 Nanolitho- 
                 Parallel 
               
               
                 graphy 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 *AOL: Advanced Optical Lithography; EBL; Electron Beam Lithography; AEBL: Advanced Electron Beam Lithography; NIL: Nanoimprint Lithography; IL: Interference Lithography; AFM: Single-Tip AFM oxidation Lithography. Parallel AFM: Multi-Tip AFM Lithography 
               
               
                 **An array of several tens to hundreds of AFM tips is capable of producing arbitrary patterns per tip, however this pattern is repeated per tip, thereby creating arrays of such patterns. 
               
             
          
         
       
     
       EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLES 
       [0060]    A series of experiments were conducted using single-tip anodic oxidation (i.e., point oxidation using a standard AFM tip) of graphene to define parameter ranges for the design of the nanolithographic processes of the present disclosure. Experiments were performed using a Pacific Nanotechnology Nano-I2 AFM. 
       Example 1 
       [0061]    Single-tip local anodic oxidation was used to cut few-layer graphene (FLG) and inscribe insulating patterns on highly-ordered pyrolyzed graphite (HOPG) using a standard AFM tip. A bias of −10V was applied to the tip with no feedback in a high humidity atmosphere to create 0.5 nm trenches spaced 27 nm apart on FLG, and having depths of 0.5 nm. Under the same conditions, with the AFM in scan mode, non-volatile, electrically-insulating square patterns of graphene oxide were formed on HOPG. The squares had dimensions of about 50 μm×50 μm and line widths of about 600 nm to 800 nm. 
       Example 2 
       [0062]    Local oxidation was used to segment multi-walled carbon nanotubes at selected points. A standard AFM tip was positioned over a selected point on a nanotube having a diameter of about 50 nm, and a bias of about −5 V was applied for 100 ms. 
       Example 3 
       [0063]    Local oxidation of a graphene substrate using a standard AFM conductive diamond tip was performed to evaluate the effect of the distance between the tip and the substrate at high relative humidity (i.e., relative humidity greater than 60%) across a voltage range of −4V to −8V and a hold time of about 100 ms. Feature sizes obtained under the process conditions that were evaluated are presented in Table 2 and plotted in  FIG. 18 . 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Smallest Feature 
               
               
                   
                 Voltage 
                 Setpoint (nm) 
                 Humidity 
                 Size (nm) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 −8 
                 120 
                 78% 
                 287 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 93 
                 79% 
                 299 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 82 
                 78% 
                 301 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 75 
                 72% 
                 312 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 61 
                 76% 
                 334 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 56 
                 78% 
                 365 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 43 
                 78% 
                 366 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 37 
                 76% 
                 390 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 24 
                 72% 
                 414 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 18 
                 72% 
                 450 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 120 
                 76% 
                 158 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 82 
                 62% 
                 174 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 59 
                 62% 
                 165 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 50 
                 77% 
                 277 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 45 
                 78% 
                 280 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 24 
                 78% 
                 292 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 120 
                 77% 
                 180 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 99 
                 66% 
                 183 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 85 
                 66% 
                 197 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 78 
                 65% 
                 189 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 67 
                 76% 
                 233 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 53 
                 76% 
                 247 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 49 
                 72% 
                 251 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 41 
                 72% 
                 258 
               
               
                   
                 −5 
                 22 
                 72% 
                 287 
               
               
                   
                 −4 
                 120 
                 68% 
                 101 
               
               
                   
                 −4 
                 86 
                 68% 
                 131 
               
               
                   
                 −4 
                 39 
                 68% 
                 149 
               
               
                   
                 −4 
                 20 
                 68% 
                 178 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       Example 4 
       [0064]    Local oxidation of a graphene substrate using a standard AFM conductive diamond tip was performed to evaluate the effect of the distance between the tip and the substrate at low relative humidity (i.e., relative humidity less than 30%) across a voltage range of −6V to −9V and a hold time of about 100 ms. Feature sizes obtained under the process conditions that were evaluated are presented in Table 3 and plotted in  FIG. 19 . 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Smallest Feature 
               
               
                   
                 Voltage 
                 Setpoint (nm) 
                 Humidity 
                 Size (nm) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 −9 
                 100 
                 29% 
                 109 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 94 
                 29% 
                 114 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 83 
                 29% 
                 132 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 76 
                 29% 
                 127 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 62 
                 29% 
                 144 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 56 
                 29% 
                 165 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 43 
                 29% 
                 166 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 39 
                 29% 
                 190 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 23 
                 29% 
                 207 
               
               
                   
                 −9 
                 17 
                 29% 
                 234 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 50 
                 28% 
                 110 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 48 
                 28% 
                 116 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 44 
                 28% 
                 121 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 35 
                 28% 
                 133 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 30 
                 28% 
                 146 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 29 
                 27% 
                 171 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 18 
                 27% 
                 197 
               
               
                   
                 −8 
                 10 
                 27% 
                 200 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 50 
                 26% 
                 61 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 45 
                 26% 
                 88 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 43 
                 26% 
                 101 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 34 
                 26% 
                 95 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 29 
                 26% 
                 119 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 18 
                 26% 
                 143 
               
               
                   
                 −6 
                 0 
                 26% 
                 155 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       Example 5 
       [0065]    Local oxidation of a graphene substrate using a standard AFM conductive diamond tip was performed to evaluate the effect of the voltage holdtime on feature size. Tests were made at an applied voltage of −7.85 V, a relative humidity of about 33%, and a tip/substrate distance of 45-50 nm. Feature sizes obtained under the process conditions that were evaluated are presented in Table 4 and plotted in  FIG. 20 . 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 4 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Hold Time (ms) 
                 Feature Size (nm) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 70 
                 128.8 
               
               
                   
                 60 
                 112.5 
               
               
                   
                 50 
                 99 
               
               
                   
                 40 
                 75.3 
               
               
                   
                 30 
                 69 
               
               
                   
                 20 
                 58 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0066]    It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. All such variations and modifications, including those discussed above, are intended to be included within the scope of the invention, which is described, in part, in the claims presented below.