Abstract
The precisely focused electron beam (e-beam) in scanning transmission electron microscopy has been found to be a versatile tool for patterning matter on the atomic level and enabling atom-by-atom fabrication, however, beam-induced phenomena are known to be extremely sensitive to the e-beam energy and are closely correlated with the proximity of the knock-on threshold. Here we provide a method to control the energy transferred to the sample while facilitating much faster changes in accelerating voltages by maintaining a nearly constant temperature in the electron microscope lenses. We use this method to demonstrate in-situ nano-milling of a graphene film followed rapidly by “gentler” imaging at lower energy. Additionally, the insertion and controlled movement of silicon dopants in graphene is demonstrated by employing a different e-beam energy during each process. We believe the incorporation of variable e-beam energy will broaden the potential for atomic scale e-beam fabrication.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 112949 |
| Journal | Ultramicroscopy |
| Volume | 211 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2020 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy , Office of Science , Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Basic Energy Sciences and was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Basic Energy Sciences and was performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility.
Keywords
- Rapid acclerating voltage change
- e-beam fabrication
- graphene patterning, atomic manipulation
- scanning transmission electron microscope