Influence of ion species of AuSi liquid metal alloy source-focused ion beam on SiO2/Si nanopatterning

Abstract This work investigates the influence of the ion source (Au + and Si +2 ions) of liquid metal alloy source-focused ion beam (LMAIS/FIB) on the nanopattering. Two sets of SiO 2 /Si nanopatterns with a width of 450 nm on Silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate are fabricated by 30 keV Au + and Si +2 ions, respectively. To study this effect, the sputtering yield is calculated using the volume loss method from atomic force microscopy (AFM) profiles obtained for each set. The results of the sputtering yield were compared with theoretical results calculated from Yamamura model for normal incidence for validation. The comparison showed a good agreement between the two results with a relative difference of about 5.3% obtained using Si +2 ions.