Lithography techniques are generally used to manufacture nano-patterns on silicon, however, it is difficult to make a V-shaped pattern using these techniques. Although silicon is a brittle material, it can be treated as a ductile material if mechanically machined at extremely low force scale. The manufacturing technique of nano-patterns on single crystal silicon using a mechanical method was developed in this study. First, the linear pattern was machined on the silicon with increasing thrust force. Then, the correlation between measured cutting force and machined pattern was analyzed. Based on the analysis, the critical thrust force was quantitatively determined, and then the silicon was machined at a force lower than the critical thrust force. The machined pattern was observed using SEM and AFM to check for the occurrence of brittle fractures. Finally, the sharp V-shaped nano-pattern was manufactured on the single crystal silicon.
