Characterization of etched and Unetched Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers (VACNFs) using Atomic Force Microscopy

One of the major limitations in the development of ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensors based on one dimensional nanostructures is the difficulty involved with uniform growth of the nanofibers. Fabrication of the Vertically Aligned Carbon Nano Fibers (VACNFs) involve treatment of several chemicals including a variety of etchants. In previous work, successful measurement and characterization of electron beam patterned VACNFs is demonstrated using Atomic Force Microscopy. In this paper, the effect of etchant on VACNFs dimension (height and diameter) is observed and characterized using a highly sensitive and precise Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Furthermore, statistical analysis is performed on AFM measured data to demonstrated data confidence.