Direct-write processes enable the alteration or deposition of materials in a continuous, directable, sequential fashion. Here, in this work, we demonstrate an electron beam direct-write process in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. This process has several fundamental differences from conventional electron-beam-induced deposition techniques, where the electron beam dissociates precursor gases into chemically reactive products that bond to a substrate. Here, we use elemental tin (Sn) as a precursor and employ a different mechanism to facilitate deposition. The atomic-sized electron beam is used to generate chemically reactive point defects at desired locations in a graphene substrate. Temperature control of the sample is used to enable the precursor atoms to migrate across the surface and bond to the defect sites, thereby enabling atom-by-atom direct writing.
Dyck, Ondrej, Lupini, Andrew R., & Jesse, Stephen (2023). Atom-by-Atom Direct Writing. Nano Letters, 23(6). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00114
Dyck, Ondrej, Lupini, Andrew R., and Jesse, Stephen, "Atom-by-Atom Direct Writing," Nano Letters 23, no. 6 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00114
@article{osti_1996704,
author = {Dyck, Ondrej and Lupini, Andrew R. and Jesse, Stephen},
title = {Atom-by-Atom Direct Writing},
annote = {Direct-write processes enable the alteration or deposition of materials in a continuous, directable, sequential fashion. Here, in this work, we demonstrate an electron beam direct-write process in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. This process has several fundamental differences from conventional electron-beam-induced deposition techniques, where the electron beam dissociates precursor gases into chemically reactive products that bond to a substrate. Here, we use elemental tin (Sn) as a precursor and employ a different mechanism to facilitate deposition. The atomic-sized electron beam is used to generate chemically reactive point defects at desired locations in a graphene substrate. Temperature control of the sample is used to enable the precursor atoms to migrate across the surface and bond to the defect sites, thereby enabling atom-by-atom direct writing.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00114},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1996704},
journal = {Nano Letters},
issn = {ISSN 1530-6984},
number = {6},
volume = {23},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Chemical Society},
year = {2023},
month = {03}}