Deliverable D2 (D1.2) - FEBID of SiOx with lateral feature size of 20 nm

Direct local nanofabrication of silicon oxide by Focused Electron Beam Induced Deposition (FEBID) can have a significant impact in the fabrication of nanoscale circuits for creating insulating barriers and may act as a mask in etching steps. It is known that SiOx can be grown by FEBID using Si precursors such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10-pentamethyl-cyclopenta-siloxane (PMCPS) combined with water. High-resolution deposition of lines and dots by FEBID has been achieved in different electron microscope systems. However, high-resolution SiOx deposits using PMCPS combined with water has not been reported yet.
FEBID is out carried in an eLINE system (Raith) equipped with a Schottky-type electron emitter. The precursor gas is supplied in the chamber through a five-needle gas injection system (GIS). The reservoir’s temperature of PMCPS and water is 30°C. The GIS is positioned approximately 500μm above the sample. A Si/SiO2 (native) substrate with 5nm Pt on top was used. Single pixel lines with a length of 1μm were patterned with an electron beam energy of 30keV, a beam current of 32pA, a 10μs dwell time and at 10mm working distance. The Pt was deposited in order to enhance the contrast between the substrate and the deposited SiOx.