A control approach to high-speed probe-based nanofabrication

Abstract

In this paper, an inversion-based feedforward control approach for achievinghigh-speed, large-range probe-based nanofabrication is proposed. Probe-basednanofabrication has attracted great interest recently. This technique, however, is stilllimited by its low throughput, due to the challenges in compensating for theexisting adverse effects. These adverse effects include the nonlinear hysteresis aswell as the vibrational dynamics of piezoactuators used to position the probein 3D axes, and the dynamic coupling in multi-axis motion during high-speednanofabrication. The main contribution of this paper is the utilization of therecently developed model-less inversion-based iterative control technique to overcomethese challenges in scanning probe microscope-based nanofabrication. By usingthis advanced control technique, precision position control of the probe can beachieved during high-speed, large-range multi-axis nanofabrication. The proposedapproach is demonstrated in experiments by implementing it to fabricate large-size (∼50 µm)pentagram patterns via mechanical scratching on a gold-coated silicon sample surface at high speed(∼4.5 mm s−1).