Deposition rate and movement effect of paraffin‐based EBID

Abstract

AbstractElectron‐beam‐induced deposition (EBID) is a simple and versatile technique of processing materials for three‐dimensional nanoscale structures. A variety of precursor molecules can be used to build a localized solid deposition by the exposure of a substrate to an electron beam. This paper reports nano carbon deposition using solid n‐tetracosane as a precursor, because this paraffin‐based EBID can be introduced into existing scanning electron microscope (SEM) systems without difficulty. The paraffin is prepared on an aluminum film and operated by a manipulator in the SEM. The effects of the accelerating voltage, beam current, magnification, distance from the paraffin to the exposure point, the amount of paraffin, and the working distance are measured and discussed. It is found that the electron‐beam‐induced etching and the beam diameter are sometimes the dominant factors influencing the deposition rate, and that the thickness of the paraffin also affects the deposition distribution. Electron‐beam bending, which is a critical factor causing degradation of nanofabrication, is treated carefully in order to understand the declination of carbon pillars. The obtained carbon pillar configurations suggest that electrically charged paraffin produced during preliminary irradiation of the electron beam causes a Coulomb force and results in the movement effect of deposition. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 94(5): 39–46, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10192