Electron-beam-induced deposition and post-treatment processes to locally generate clean titanium oxide nanostructures on Si(100).

Nanotechnology 22(8):085301 (2011) PMID 21242619

We have investigated the lithographic generation of TiO(x) nanostructures on Si(100) via electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID) of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and local Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). In addition, the fabricated nanostructures were also characterized ex situ via atomic force microscopy (AFM) under ambient conditions. In EBID, a highly focused electron beam is used to locally decompose precursor molecules and thereby to generate a deposit. A drawback of this nanofabrication technique is the unintended deposition of material in the vicinity of the impact position of the primary electron beam due to so-called proximity effects. Herein, we present a post-treatment procedure to deplete the unintended deposits by moderate sputtering after the deposition process. Moreover, we were able to observe the formation of pure titanium oxide nanocrystals (<100 nm) in situ upon heating the sample in a well-defined oxygen atmosphere. While the nanocrystal growth for the as-deposited structures also occurs in the surroundings of the irradiated area due to proximity effects, it is limited to the pre-defined regions, if the sample was sputtered before heating the sample under oxygen atmosphere. The described two-step post-treatment procedure after EBID presents a new pathway for the fabrication of clean localized nanostructures.