Development of a Portable Conductive AFM Lithography Workstation

Conductive Atomic Force Microscope (c-AFM) Lithography provides the tools needed to create devices from the two-dimensional electron system that lies at the LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ (LAO/STO) interface. By using c-AFM lithography, we can create devices such as electron waveguides and single electron transistors that allow us to observe properties of LAO/STO that are only found using those devices. Due to the decaying nature of these devices in the ambient environment, even sealing the devices in a portable vacuum chamber can not ensure the survival of the previously written devices. This causes the transportation of such devices made using c-AFM lithography difficult. To provide a solution to this pressing issue, we decided to create a portable lithography workstation by combining a portable AFM with a transport measurement setup, and as such enabling us to perform lithography at any location.