Structural Analysis of Si(OEt)4 Deposits on Au(111)/SiO2 Substrates at the Nanometer Scale Using Focused Electron Beam-Induced Deposition

• Published in: ACS omega 2023-07, Vol.8 (27), p.24233-24246
• Main Authors: Mason, Nigel J., Pintea, Maria, Csarnovics, István, Fodor, Tamás, Szikszai, Zita, Kertész, Zsófia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2470-1343; 2470-1343
• DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00793

The focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) process was used by employing a GeminiSEM with a beam characteristic of 1 keV and 24 pA to deposit pillars and line-shaped nanostructures with heights between 9 nm and 1 μm and widths from 5 nm to 0.5 μm. All structures have been analyzed to their composition looking at a desired Si/O/C content measuring a 1:2:0 ratio. The C content of the structure was found to be ∼over 60% for older deposits kept in air (∼at room temperature) and less than 50% for later deposits, only 12 h old. Upon depositing Si­(OEt)4 at high rates and at a deposition temperature of under 0 °C, the obtained Si content of our structures was between 10 and 15 atom % (compositional percentage). The FEBID structures have been deposited on Au(111)/SiO2. The Au(111) was chosen as a substrate for the deposition of Si­(OEt)4 due to its structural and morphological properties. With its surface granulation following a Chevron pattern and surface defects having an increased contribution to the changes in the composition of the final structure content, the Au(111) surface characteristic behavior at the deposition of Si­(OEt)4 is an increase in the O ratio and a reduction in the nanodeposit heights.