| Self-assembled monolayers of long chain hydrocarbons formed on SiO 2 are dense, ordered arrangements that are stable, flat over long ranges, and are sensitive to electron beams. These characteristics make them ideal substrates for applications such as high-resolution electron lithography and biochemical sensors. In this study, orthodecyltrichlorosilane monolayers were used as films for capturing the latent image from an electron source, while atomic force microscopy was used to scan the latent surface and determine the resultant image. In order for this technique to attain the fully intended sub-micron and even nanometer resolution (allowing it to be called nano-autoradiography), it is essential to understand electron-monolayer interaction as well as the role of factors such as electron dosage, irradiation area, chemical processing and imaging steps.; Towards this end, monolayers grown on SiO2 were irradiated in an electron beam lithography column. After either a brief liquid HF etching, vapor HF or no etching step, the monolayers were imaged by atomic force microscopy. While direct imaging of the latent image was shown to be possible, HF etching effectively transfers the patterns into SiO2. The image contrast can be improved by selecting the right sample processing. Square patterns of 0.5 μm in size and electron dosages to 80 μC/cm2 are identifiable by tapping mode microscopy. Etching in the un-irradiated areas due to contamination and other unknown factors, yield etch pits of 30–200 nm size. Low selectivity and high roughness, combined with non-specific etching determine the lower limits for pattern sizes and electron doses. A repeating and overlapping incident beam model that took into consideration the primary, secondary and backscattered electron effects was used to calculate the actual electron dosage that can be identified by force microscope. This dosage was determined to be 10 μC/cm2 in the center of the pattern.; Tritium containing lysine was successfully bound to carboxylated polystyrene microspheres. The binding density was determined to be 0.75 lysine per carboxyl. A protocol for the deposition of microspheres and their removal from the monolayer was developed. The tritium on each microsphere was calculated. From this calculation, the average electron dosage experienced by the circular area (over a month) directly beneath the sphere was determined to be in the range of 4 to 24 μC/cm 2. This range spans the detectable actual dosage of 10 μC/cm 2. Tapping mode atomic force microscopy was also used to image scleroglucan and curdlan structures under different sample preparation conditions. End-to-end and fractal analysis were performed to characterize scleroglucan networks. |
