A new route to the production and nanoscale patterning of highly smooth, ultrathin zirconium oxide films.

Metal-stabilized bilayers, prepared by the self-assembly of octadecyltrichorosilane on an oxidized silicon surface followed by the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition of a monolayer of octadecylphosphonic acid, have been used to generate 1.6 nanometer thick, highly uniform, zirconium oxide films following annealing. Patterning of the thin films on the nanometre scale was achieved using nanodisplacement methodology, by careful control of an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe, which allowed the selective removal of the upper leaflet of the bilayer.