Nanometer-scale recording on an organic-complex thin film with a scanning tunneling microscope

Nanometer-scale recording on an organic-complex thin film with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) under ambient conditions is demonstrated. The recording marks are made by applying external voltage pulses between the tip and the highly ordered pyrolytic graphite substrate. A 30x30 nm(2) STM image with recorded marks is given. The average recorded mark is 1.3 nm in diameter, which corresponds to a data storage density of about 10(13) bits/cm(2). The current-voltage characteristics measured by the STM show an insulator behavior for the unrecorded regions, and a conductor behavior for the recorded regions, which indicates that the data are recorded by local change of the electrical property of the films. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.