Probe based surface modification of polymers below 30 nm pitch

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Surface Engineering

Background:

• Heated probes enable thermomechanical indentation and local material evaporation on polymer thin films.
• Current limitations in probe-based surface modification arise from polymer surface roughness at ultra-high storage densities (exceeding 1 Tbit/in2).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the resolution limits of heated probe techniques for surface patterning and data storage applications.
• To explore methods for overcoming surface roughness limitations in high-density data storage on polymeric films.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing heated probes for thermomechanical indentation and localized material evaporation.
• Employing surface templating techniques to create atomically flat polymer surfaces.

Main Results:

• The depth of indents approaches the natural surface roughness of polymers at storage densities above 1 Tbit/in2.
• Templating an atomically flat surface allows for overcoming roughness limitations.
• Achieved potential storage densities of up to 4 Tbit/in2, with an indentation half-pitch of 7.5 nm.

Conclusions:

• Heated probe technology is a viable method for high-resolution surface modification and data storage on polymers.
• Achieving atomically flat surfaces is crucial for realizing ultra-high storage densities beyond 1 Tbit/in2.
• This approach offers a pathway to significantly increase data storage capacity on polymeric materials.