Programmable solid state atom sources for nanofabrication
Abstract
In this paper we discuss the development of a MEMS-based solid state atom source that can provide controllable atom deposition ranging over eight orders of magnitude, from ten atoms per square micron up to hundreds of atomic layers, on a target ~1 mm away. Using a micron-scale silicon plate as a thermal evaporation source we demonstrate the deposition of indium, silver, gold, copper, iron, aluminum, lead and tin. Because of their small sizes and rapid thermal response times, pulse width modulation techniques are a powerful way to control the atomic flux. Pulsing the source with precise voltages and timing provides control in terms of when and how many atoms get deposited. By arranging many of these devices into an array, one has a multi-material, programmable solid state evaporation source. These micro atom sources are a complementary technology that can enhance the capability of a variety of nano-fabrication techniques.In this paper we discuss the development of a MEMS-based solid state atom source that can provide controllable atom deposition ranging over eight orders of magnitude, from ten atoms per square micron up to hundreds of atomic layers, on a target ~1 mm away. Using a micron-scale silicon plate as a thermal evaporation source we demonstrate the deposition of indium, silver, gold, copper, iron, aluminum, lead and tin. Because of their small sizes and rapid thermal response times, pulse width modulation techniques are a powerful way to control the atomic flux. Pulsing the source with precise voltages and timing provides control in terms of when and how many atoms get deposited. By arranging many of these devices into an array, one has a multi-material, programmable solid state evaporation source. These micro atom sources are a complementary technology that can enhance the capability of a variety of nano-fabrication techniques.
Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: A document containing further information about device characterization, summary of the evaporation experiments, technical details and data analysis of the measurement is supplied as ESI. In addition, three video files are included. One illustrates the operation of the source array and the other two are SEM videos of the dynamic process of silver evaporating on the source plate. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr01331c- Publication:
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Nanoscale
- Pub Date:
- June 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1039/c5nr01331c
- Bibcode:
- 2015Nanos...710735H