Patent ID: 6783643
Filing Date: 2004-08-31
Classification: B81C,G01N,H01L

Abstract:
A method for fabricating a feature of a solid state structure comprising the steps of:providing a solid state structure having a surface; and exposing the structure to a flux, F, of incident ions, with incident ion exposure conditions being selected based on: &PartialD;&PartialD;t&it;C&it;(r,t)=F&it;â€ƒ&it;Y1+D&it;&Del;2&it;C-CÏ„trap-F&it;â€ƒ&it;C&it;â€ƒ&it;ÏƒC,where C is concentration of mobile adatoms at the structure surface, r is surface position, t is time, Y1 is number of surface adatoms created per incident ion, D is surface adatom diffusivity, &tgr;trap is average lifetime of a surface adatom before adatom annihilation occurs at a structure surface defect characteristic of material of the solid state structure, and &sgr;c is a cross-section for surface adatom annihilation by incident ions that is characteristic of the selected ion exposure conditions; to control sputtering of the structure surface by the incident ions and to transport, within the structure including the structure surface, material of the structure to a selected feature location, in response to the ion flux exposure, to produce the feature substantially by locally adding material of the structure to the feature location.