Scanning probe nanoscale patterning of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite

In this work we present precision scanning probe etching of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. We corroborate that the lithography is due to an electrochemical, polarity-dependent, meniscus-mediated etching of the carbon surface. By changing the etching temperature, we are able to reduce the feature size by 24%. External feedback control and probe tip cleaning enables desired cut patterns with high precision. Using a feedback-controlled atomic force microscope, we demonstrate an array of 105 trenches using 370 etching operations, with 136 +/- 6 and 183 +/- 5 nm precision over an area of 2.5 mu m x 2.5 mu m. This results in a precision of 4.4% and 2.7%, respectively.