Device Fabrication by Scanned Probe Oxidation

Abstract

Precision Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA. E-mail: john.dagata@nist.gov Imaging by scanning a tiny probe across a surface is a well-established technique for nanometer microscopy; now researchers are using these probes to manipulate matter and create small structures. In his Perspective, Dagata describes “an important milestone” reported in the same issue by Snow and Campbell ( p. 1639 ), in which small oxidized structures were created with a scanning probe microscope.