page_title: Electron beam-induced deposition
section_title: Process
hierarchical_section_title: Electron beam-induced deposition / Process
context_page_description: Electron-beam-induced deposition is a process of decomposing gaseous molecules by an electron beam leading to deposition of non-volatile fragments onto a nearby substrate. The electron beam is usually provided by a scanning electron microscope, which results in high spatial accuracy and the possibility to produce free-standing, three-dimensional structures.
context_section_description: The focused electron beam of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is commonly used. Another method is ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID), where a focused ion beam is applied instead. Precursor materials are typically liquid or solid and gasified prior to deposition, usually through vaporization or sublimation, and introduced, at accurately controlled rate, into the high-vacuum chamber of the electron microscope. Alternatively, solid precursors can be sublimated by the electron beam itself.
  When deposition occurs at a high temperature or involves corrosive gases, a specially designed deposition chamber is used; it is isolated from the microscope, and the beam is introduced into it through a micrometre-sized orifice. The small orifice size maintains differential pressure in the microscope (vacuum) and deposition chamber (no vacuum). Such deposition mode has been used for EBID of diamond.
  In the presence of the precursor gas, the electron beam is scanned over the substrate, resulting in deposition of material. The scanning is usually computer-controlled. The deposition rate depends on a variety of processing parameters, such as the partial precursor pressure, substrate temperature, electron beam parameters, applied current density, etc. It usually is in the order of 10 nm/s.
caption: EBID setup
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