Formation of a flat conductive polymer film using Template-Stripped Gold (TSG) surface and surface-graft polymerization for scanning multiprobe data storage

Abstract

A thin conductive polymer recording medium with angstrom-scale surface roughness has been formed on template-stripped gold (TSG) surface by surface-graft polymerization for scanning multiprobe data storage. A gold film is deposited on a mica plate, which is bonded onto the silicon substrate with a gold film using gold-gold direct bonding technique. By removing the mica plate, gold surface with the angstrom-scale surface roughness is formed. A conductive polymer film as a recording medium is deposited on the TSG surface by the surface-graft polymerization. As a result, the polymer film with small roughness is obtained. Thus, the use of the TSG surface is efficient way to form the flat conductive polymer film. Finally, reversible electrical modification on the polymer film is demonstrated using atomic force microscopy. These results show the possibility that this formation method of the conductive polymer film provides rewritable recording media with small roughness for scanning multiprobe high-density data storage. © 2008 The Surface Science Society of Japan.