Using new Bruker NanoMan software, the VINSE atomic force microscope (AFM) created an image of Cornelius Vanderbilt with nanometer high overall portrait features and a lateral extent that is about 10 times smaller than the width of human hair. The technique that makes this possible is anodic oxidation nanolithography, which uses an applied voltage to create an oxide layer on a silicon wafer directly under the AFM tip. The tip can then be manipulated to “draw” any desired picture or pattern.
Our tiny Cornelius Vanderbilt is one of more than 150 items included in the Vanderbilt sesquicentennial time capsule that was interred in the cornerstone of Kirkland Hall and will be opened in the year 2174. Items for the time capsule were selected to provide the future Vanderbilt community with insights into the university’s values and priorities during its 150th year.
As the university archives team was compiling items for the capsule, one of the concerns was to think about how each item would be interpreted when unearthed in the future. To aid in locating tiny Cornelius on a large 100 mm diameter wafer, a map of lithographically-patterned aluminum in readable-size text was created on the wafer surface, with the small AFM image placed within crosshair markers.
In conjunction with cleanroom technical staff, the wafer was prepared by the undergraduate Tech Crew in the VINSE cleanroom, incorporating customized photomask design, lithography, and wet etching. Dr. Dmitry Koktysh of the VINSE technical team performed the AFM nanolithography.