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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
We have developed an atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation technique with which Si trench sidewall surface can be scanned with the tip of cantilever to investigate its nano-scale morphologies. By developing a new technique of cleaving the substrate at the center of a micron-sized trench along its longitudinal direction [011], the sidewall nano-scale morphology of the trench could be observed with the AFM technique. By comparing of cross sections of the images, we also investigated the difference between Si and carbon nanotube (CNT) tips for the AFM observations. According to the results, the CNT tip proved to show a superior signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio compared with the Si tip. The CNT tip enables us to observe the step patterns of the sidewalls of micron-sized trench structures in the various phases of hydrogen annealing.