Conductive atomic force microscopy study of silica nanotrench structure

Conductive atomic force microscope had been applied to study the electrical transportation mechanism together with topographic information on a periodical silica nanotrench structure. The bottom of the trench is covered by a 4 nm silica thin film, while the ridges between the trenches are made up of 90 nm thick silica film. On the same bias, the current transport through the bottom is larger than the current transport through the ridges. In the bottom, rectifying characteristics are observed; the conduction mechanism can be ascribed as a Schottky emission. Strong inhomogeneous electrical properties are also observed. A high resolution with a lateral resolution below 6 nm is demonstrated in the conductive atomic force microscope study.