Nanofabrication on Si oxide with scanning tunneling microscope: Mechanism of the low-energy electron-stimulated reaction

Nanofabrication on Si oxide with a low-energy electron-beam-stimulated reac tion has been demonstrated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and th e mechanism of the low-energy electron-induced etching is investigated furt her. Direct fabrication of a thin Ag film with this low-energy e-beam/STM m ethod was also tested, which shows an additional capability of the nanofabr ication technique. Nanometer-scale patterning of rings on a thin Si-oxide l ayer using this method shows that further progress nanolithography can be e xpected with the fabricated Si oxide as a mask. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)02211-1].