Selective in-situ atomic layer deposition on structures created with EBID

High-purity platinum structures have been grown with atomic-layer deposition (ALD) on very thin seeds made with electron beam-induced deposition (EBID). The ALD growth is selective towards the EBID seeds on the substrate. This approach basically combines the sub-10 nm patterning capability of EBID and the material quality of ALD, and thereby enables the fabrication of high-quality nanostructures with a high lateral resolution. A dual supply line with local injectors can be used to realize ALD growth in the same tool that is used to create the platinum seed layer. Future developments may result in further optimization of the current process as well as in exploration of other material combinations for both the seed layer and the ALD process

Method for forming microscopic structures on a substrate

The invention relates to a method for forming microscopic structures. By scanning a focused particle beam over a substrate in the presence of a precursor fluid, a patterned seed layer is formed. By now growing this layer with Atomic Layer Deposition or Chemical Vapour Deposition, a high quality layer can be grown. An advantage of this method is that forming the seed layer takes relatively little time, as only a very thin layer needs to be deposited

Nanopattering by direct-write atomic layer deposition

A novel direct-write approach is presented, which relies on area-selective atomic layer deposition on seed layer patterns deposited by electron beam induced deposition. The method enables the nanopatterning of high-quality material with a lateral resolution of only 10 nm. Direct-write ALD is a viable alternative to lithography-based patterning with a better compatibility with sensitive nanomaterials

Three dimensional microstructure-microtexture characterization of pipeline steel

The microstructural anisotropy together with the crystallographic texture of an industrial grade of X70 pipeline steel is studied by means of the 3D-EBSD technique known also as EBS3 which was recently developed by FEI. Samples of size 8x10x3mm(3) were cut from the middle thickness of an industrial rolled plate and after special sample preparation have been studied in a Nova 600 dual beam scanning electron microscope equipped with a field emission gun and HKL Channel 6 EBSD data collection software for crystallographic orientation, which allows multiple sectioning of the sample in automatic mode and, afterwards reconstruction of both the 3D microstructure and texture of the examined volume. Three scanned zones of different volumes that varied between 15x10x27 mu m(3) and 16xl4x6 mu m(3) have been examined and the results for the crystallographic orientation, grain shape and grain shape orientation are discussed together with the data for the anisotropy of the Charpy impact toughness of the material

The effect of residual gas scattering on Ga ion beam patterning of graphene

The patterning of graphene by a 30 kV Ga+focused ion beam(FIB) is studied by in-situ and ex-situRaman spectroscopy. It is found that the graphene surrounding the patterned target area can be damaged at remarkably large distances of more than 10 μm. We show that scattering of the Ga ions in the residual gas of the vacuum system is the main cause of the large range of lateral damage, as the size and shape of the tail of the ion beam were strongly dependent on the system background pressure. The range of the damage was therefore greatly reduced by working at low pressures and limiting the total amount of ions used. This makes FIB patterning a feasible alternative to electron beam lithography as long as residual gas scattering is taken into accoun