This work presents the novel applications of heated AFM tip in nanolithography. Different strategies were investigated for patterning materials using heated AFM tip. New materials were developed for these new nanolithography methods. Simulation and modeling work was done to further understand the heat transfer and chemical reactions involved in the thermal writing process. The selective thermal decomposition of polymer was the first thermal patterning method we¡¯ve investigated. A couple of different sacrificial polymers were used as the writing materials. Among these materials, the cross-linked amorphous polycarbonate (CPC-IV) was the best material for this application. The effect of cross-linking density on the performance of the material was investigated. A novel 3D thermal writing technology was developed by using cross-linked polymer as the writing material. A combined method utilizing the heated cantilever probe to pattern a polymer masking layer that can serve as a template for area selective atomic layer deposition techniques was developed. Another thermal probe nanolithography method, thermal probe top surface imaging, was also developed. In this method, the heated AFM tip was used to generate functional groups on the polymer surface, and ALD was used to selectively deposit TiO2 on the surface where contains those functional groups. A new poly (hydroxyl styrene) based copolymer was developed for this method. We also investigated self assembly monolayers (SAMs) as the thermal writing material. Two different SAMs were investigated. One the APTES and the other one is THP-MPTES. We demonstrated that the APTES can be patterned using thermal AFM probe, and other materials can be selectively deposited on the patterned APTES SAMs. Thermal AFM probe was used to selectively generate thiol groups from THP-MPTES SAMs, and then use these thiol groups to guide the deposition AuNPs. Some simulation and modeling works were also done to further understand these processes. FemLab was used to analyze the heat transfer in the thermal cantilever and between the heated tip and substrate. Based on kinetics of polymer thermal decomposition, we built a simple model for the selective thermal decomposition nanolithography. The experimental results can be very well fitted by this model.

This dissertation aims to advance the current state of use of silicon atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers with integrated heaters. To this end, the research consists of two primary thrusts - demonstrating new applications for the cantilevers, and advancing the current state of understanding of their thermal and mechanical behavior to enable further applications. Among new applications, two are described. In the first application, the cantilevers are used for nanoscale material deposition, using heat to modulate the delivery of material from the nanoscale tip. In the second application, the cantilever performs thermal analysis with nanoscale spatial resolution, enabling thermal characterization of near surface and composite interphase regions that cannot be measured with bulk analysis techniques. The second thrust of the research seeks to address fundamental questions concerning the precision use of heated cantilevers. Efforts to this end include characterizing the mechanical, electrical, and thermal behavior of the cantilevers, and optimizing calibration methodology. A technique is developed for calibrating the cantilever spring constant while operating at elevated temperature. Finally, an analytical model is developed for the heat flow in the cantilever tip and relevant dimensionless numbers that govern the relative importance of the various components of the thermal environment are identified. The dimensionless numbers permit exploration of the sensitivity of the tip-substrate interface temperature to the environmental conditions.