Novel organic thin films for ultrahigh density information storage

Abstract A novel organic compound, N -Cyano, N ′-Phenyl, Urea (CPU) was synthesized. Its monomer and polymer thin films were prepared by different deposition methods on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite substrate (HOPG). The CPU thin films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ultrahigh density information storage with the thin films using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has been demonstrated. It was found that 50 mm recording marks in diameter could be formed on CPU polymer thin films, while 0.8 mm recording marks could be formed on CPU monomer thin films, which corresponds to a data storage density of about 10 14 bits per cm 2 .