About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Applied Physics Letters
Paper
Thermomechanical writing with an atomic force microscope tip
Abstract
We have developed a new technique to perform fast, reliable nanoindentation of polymer surfaces for possible applications to high density data storage. In this technique, an infrared laser is focused on an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip, which is in contact with a transparent polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) substrate. The heat from the tip softens the PMMA in the contact region, at which point the local tip pressure creates a pit. The pits range in size from several hundred angstroms to 1 μm, depending on the size of the laser pulse and the loading force on the tip. Pits have been made with pulses as short as 0.3 μs at loads of 10-7 N. By operating the AFM on a rotating disk, we have shown that the features can be written and read at frequencies up to at least 100 kHz.