ELECTRON-BEAM-INDUCED FABRICATION OF METAL-CONTAINING NANOSTRUCTURES

An experimental system based on a transmission electron microscope JEM -100CX has been developed for electron beam-induced chemical vapor dep osition. Direct electron beam-induced growth of nanometer-wide self-su pporting rods has been performed inside the microscope operating in sc anning mode by decomposition of carbonyls of chromium Cr(CO)(6), tungs ten W(CO)(6), and rhenium Re-2(CO)(10). In situ phase and structure tr ansformations under annealing inside the microscope column were studie d. Nanoscale rods and strips grown from rhenium carbonyl are of specia l interest because, after annealing, they consist of a single pure rhe nium phase. The described method of metallic nanoelements fabrication enables us to produce highly conductive nanowires and tips for applica tion in nanoelectronics, emission electronics, and scanning tunneling microscopy.