Abstract

In this article we are concerned with several aspects related to atomic force microscopy electrostatic nanolithography (AFMEN). AFMEN technique is based on manipulation of nano-amounts of dielectric materials in strong 10 8 - 10 10 Vm-1 electric field. In polymer films of different physical-chemical properties AFMEN produces erasable nanostructures that are 10-300 nm in diameter and 0.5-20 nm in height through Joule heating of polymeric molecules between conductive AFM tip and substrate followed by electrostatic attraction of the softened polymer towards the tip. We discuss AFMEN for potential data storage applications in polymeric materials. Additionally, it is demonstrated that AFMEN manipulates bundles of Wiseana Iridovirus and produces noticeable changes in capsids composing individual virions.

Keywords: nano-patterning techniques, scanning probe microscopies (SPMs), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), self-assembled monolayers, Columbic force, DC voltage pulse, electrization, folded protein helices