Focused ion beam induced deposition of gold

A finely focused ion beam is scanned over a surface on which a local gas ambient of dimethyl gold hexafluoro acetylacetonate is created by a directed miniature nozzle. The incident ions induce the selective deposition of gold along the path traced by the beam. The 15‐keV Ga+ ion beam current is 100 pA and the beam diameter is 0.5 μm. Gold lines of 0.5 μm width and Gaussian profile are written. The film growth rate corresponds to five atoms deposited per incident ion. The focused ion beam deposited films contained 15% Ga, but less than 5% of other impurities, such as O or C. Deposition was also observed with broad ion beams of 750 eV Ar+ and 50 keV Si+. The resistivity of the films varied from 2×10−5 to 1.3×10−3 Ω cm.