Study on the Wear Mechanism of a Diamond AFM Tip During Scribing of a Single-Crystal Silicon
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: To elucidate the wear mechanisms of diamond AFM tips during nanoscale scribing of single-crystal silicon, this study combines controlled experiments with atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Scribing tests were conducted under systematically varied bias current, scribing speed, and scribing distance. Tip morphology evolution was quantitatively characterized. Concurrently, a three-dimensional MD model reproduced probe-silicon interactions to analyze bond breaking, atomic detachment, and structural transformation at the atomic scale. The results show that increasing current, speed, and distance significantly accelerate tip blunting. Simulations reveal a progressive transition in deformation behavior from elastic response to atomic attrition, plastic damage, brittle cracking, and catastrophic fracture as indentation depth increases, and cluster analysis establishes a quantitative correlation between process parameters and wear severity. This integrated experimental simulation framework provides mechanistic insight into diamond tip degradation and offers quantitative guidance for improving probe durability and process reliability in AFM-based nanofabrication.
Source: Micromachines
DOI: 10.3390/mi17030344
Authors: Xinyue Lin, Litao Qi, Jinguo Han
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,534
OpenAlex ID: W7135099693