Electron postgrowth irradiation
Our paper titled “Electron postgrowth irradiation of platinum-containing nanostructures grown by electron-beam-induced deposition from Pt(PF3)4″ has been published online now. We describe how the microstructure of EBID deposits created from Pt(PF3)4, notably the platinum nanocrystallite grain size, evolves with electron fluence in a controllable manner. The resistivity was observed to decrease as a result of postgrowth electron irradiation, with the lowest observed value of 215 ± 15 uOhm.cm. We demonstrate that electron beam-induced changes in microstructure can be caused using electron fluences similar to those used during the course of EBID and we suggest that the observed effects can be used to tailor the microstructure and functionality of deposits grown by EBID in situ without breaking vacuum.
A. Botman, C. W. Hagen, J. Li, B. L. Thiel, K. A. Dunn, J. J. L. Mulders, S. Randolph and M. Toth; J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B Volume 27, Issue 6, pp. 2759-2763 (2009). doi:10.1116/1.3253551