A control approach to high-speed probe-based nanofabrication

In this paper, an inversion-based feedforward control approach to achieve high-speed, large-range probe-based nanofabrication is proposed. Probe-based nanofabrication has attracted great interests recently. However, this technique is still limited by the low-throughput due to the challenges in compensating for the adverse effects such as the nonlinear hysteresis and the vibrational dynamics of piezo actuators in each axis, as well as the dynamics coupling in multi-axis motion during high-speed nanofabrication. The main contribution of this article is the utilization of the recently-developed model-less inversion-based iterative control (MIIC) technique to overcome these challenges in SPM probe-based nanofabrication. By using this advanced control technique, precision position control of the probe can be achieved during high-speed, large-range multiaxes nanofabrication. The proposed approach is demonstrated in experiments by implementing it to fabricate large-size (∼50 µm) pentagram patterns via mechanical-scratching on a gold-coated silicon sample surface at high speed (∼4.5 mm/sec).