title: Nanometer-scale infrared spectroscopy of heterogeneous polymer nanostructures fabricated by tip-based nanofabrication.
abstract: There is a significant need for chemical identification and chemical imaging of nanofabricated structures and devices, especially for multiple materials integrated at the nanometer scale. Here we present nanofabrication, chemical identification, and nanometer-scale chemical imaging of polymer nanostructures with better than 100 nm spatial resolution. Polymer nanostructures of polyethylene, polystyrene, and poly(3-dodecylthiophene-2,5-diyl) were fabricated by tip-based nanofabrication. Nanometer-scale infrared measurements using atomic force microscopy infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) obtained quantitative chemical spectra of these nanostructures. We show chemical imaging of intersecting patterns of nanometer-scale polymer lines of different chemical compositions. The results indicate that for closely packed heterogeneous nanostructures, the spatial resolution of AFM-IR is not limited by nanometer-scale thermal diffusion, but is instead limited by the cantilever sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio of the AFM-IR system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61820, United States.
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Felts
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kjoller
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Craig B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Prater
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011108:Polymers