Thermochemical Nanolithography

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Summary: A device for sculpting a substrate includes a vertically displaceable probe having a nano-scale dimensioned probe tip. A displacement mechanism is configured to adjust a vertical displacement between the probe tip and the substrate. A heating mechanism selectively heats the probe tip to a preselected temperature that is sufficient to cause a portion of the substrate in contact with the probe tip to decompose.  The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention which, in one aspect, is embodied as a device for sculpting a substrate that includes a vertically displaceable probe having a nano-scale dimensioned probe tip. A displacement mechanism is configured to adjust a vertical displacement between the probe tip and the substrate. A heating mechanism selectively heats the probe tip to a preselected temperature that is sufficient to cause a portion of the substrate in contact with the probe tip to decompose.  In another aspect, the invention is embodied as a device for sculpting a substrate that includes an array of independently heatable probes. Each of the probes includes a probe tip. A heating mechanism is capable of heating each probe tip to a temperature that will cause material in the substrate adjacent to the probe tip to decompose. A translator causes the substrate and the array to move relative to each other in a lateral dimension along a preselected path.  In yet another aspect, the invention is embodied as a method of sculpting a substrate with a tip of an integrated heatable probe, in which a displacement of the tip relative to the substrate is changed so that the tip is at a preselected depth in the substrate. The tip is heated to a temperature that will cause a portion of the substrate in a region adjacent to the tip to decompose.