Exploration of the ultimate patterning potential achievable with focused ion beams

Abstract

In this paper, we present our work aiming to explore the nano-structuring potential of high resolution focused ion beams (FIB), a technology capable of overcoming some basic limitations of current nano-fabrication techniques and to propose new patterning schemes for nanoscience. To demonstrate this, we present some of our recent results based on ion-induced local property modifications or localised damage injection. We first detail the very high resolution FIB system we have developed. Then FIB nano-fabrication experiments are presented and discussed. We show that stable artificial surface nano-defects can be created with very low ion dose. The properties of stable magnetic structures (dots and lines) fabricated on ultrathin magnetic films using extremely low surface ion dose (10 12–10 15 ions/cm 2) are presented. In a last example, we show that the promising direction of “bottom–up” or “organisation” processes can be envisaged with FIB. This can be achieved using defects capable of pinning the diffusion and of promoting organisation of nanometre-sized clusters (gold or cobalt–platinum) on a graphite crystalline surface.