NANOMETER-SCALE ELECTRON-BEAM PROCESSING AND IN-SITU ATOMIC OBSERVATION OF VACUUM-DEPOSITED MGO FILMS IN HIGH-RESOLUTION TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY
T. Kizuka et N. Tanaka, NANOMETER-SCALE ELECTRON-BEAM PROCESSING AND IN-SITU ATOMIC OBSERVATION OF VACUUM-DEPOSITED MGO FILMS IN HIGH-RESOLUTION TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY, Philosophical magazine. A. Physics of condensed matter. Defects and mechanical properties, 71(3), 1995, pp. 631-639
Nanometre scale processing was performed on vacuum-deposited single cr
ystalline magnesium oxide films by using a nanometre-sized electron be
am in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Two ki
nds of processing, drilling and edge-flattening, were demonstrated. Th
e resolution of the present processing was demonstrated by the minimum
size of the hole being about 4 nm and the minimum distance between ho
les being 14 nm. The shape modulation during the processing was observ
ed for the first time in situ dynamically at atomic resolution. The dy
namic observations in HRTEM showed that the processing is caused by de
sorption of constituent atoms from the solid state surface of the magn
esium oxide films. It was found that the size of the processing area c
ould be controlled at the atomic scale by adjusting the irradialtion t
ime during the in situ observation of the processing.