Abstract

Further development of nanotechnology and nanoelectronics is determined not only by the ability to create nanometer-scale features but also by the accuracy of the positioning and alignment to each other. Developments in nanoscience, nanotechnology, and nanoelectronics involve instruments that enable to create and observe objects at the atomic scale. Scanning probe microscopes are capable to image, characterize, measure, and manipulate at atomic scale being an irreplaceable tool in a wide variety of nanofabrication, positioning, and characterization methods. The sharp tip of a micro-mechanical beam, so-called cantilever, is used to scan the surface line by line. The deflection of the cantilever is used to accurately measure the surface topology of the sample. The use of atomically sharp tips enables an ultimately localized interaction at atomic resolution. Often, this technology is called tip-based nanofabrication. With respect to the interaction mechanism, tip-based nanofabrication can be divided into two groups: (i) mechanical or thermome-chanical interaction and (ii) voltage-driven additive or ablative physical-chemical interaction. Tip-based nanofabrica-tion can generate features in the so-called “bottom-up” regime. In this case, atoms or molecules are assembled. Tip-based nanofabrication works also in the “top-down” regime, in which features are created into a bulk material.