Nanofabrication of Titanium Surface by Tip-Induced Anodization in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Abstract

A titanium (Ti) surface was arbitrarily oxidized by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Oxidation of the Ti surface was induced by scanning an STM tip with the sample (Ti) bias of more than +3 V, and a dot or line pattern of oxide was fabricated on Ti with the spatial resolution of 70 nm. The results were discussed in terms of tip-induced anodization of Ti due to water adsorbed on the surface.