Submicrometer lithographic patterning of thin gold films with a scanning tunneling microscope

A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has been used to locally expose Langmuir–Blodgett layers of a negative electron beam resist (ω-tricosenoic acid) on top of a thin gold film. The STM operates in a dry nitrogen atmosphere at a voltage difference of about −10 V between the electrochemically etched Pt-Ir tip and the gold surface. After development in ethanol, the unexposed areas of the gold film are removed by argon ion milling. Gold wires with a linewidth down to 15 nm have been prepared. Electrical transport measurements confirm the homogeneity and the one-dimensional metallic character at low temperatures of the gold structures.