Atomic force microscope anodic oxidation studied by spectroscopic microscopy

Atomic force microscope (AFM) induced local oxidation is a versatile and promising nanofabrication process used successfully to produce quantum devices. Nevertheless, little information is available on the chemical and structural properties of the grown oxide. We address this open issue by a spectromicroscopic study of nanoscopic oxide patterns grown by AFM anodic oxidation on n-type silicon substrate. We show that AFM oxidation produces chemically uniform, stoichiometric SiO2, and that its chemical and structural properties do not depend on the applied voltage. The observed electrostatic shift of the oxide binding energies allows a simple estimation of the electrical properties of the AFM induced oxide.