Formation of electrified images using electron and ion beams

Abstract

The ability to form high resolution electrified pattern enables the electrification method to be applied to the fabrication of electronic devices and new materials. In early studies, we developed a method for drawing patterns on an insulating ceramic substrate with an electron beam. In this work, an ion beam drawing method in addition to the electron beam method has been developed to obtain finer electrified patterns. The formation of the electrified images was carried out with a 5kV electron beam (EB) and with a 30kV focused ion beam (FIB) of a Ga +. The drawn images were observed with the voltage contrast method in which the electrified samples are scanned electron beam of 2.5kV. The former images showed bright contrast, which means negative polarity. In contrast, the latter images showed dark contrast, which means positive polarity. Sharpness of the images was evaluated by image analysis. The results indicated that the finest width of an electrified line is 8μm on FIB drawing and 24μm on EB drawing. It was conclusively shown that electrified lines drawn by FIB are finer and clearer than those made by EB drawing.