Electron beam induced deposition (EBID) is a maskless nanofabrication technique capable of surpassing the resolution limits of resist-based lithography. However, EBID fabrication of functional nanostructures is limited by beam spread in bulk substrates, substrate charging, and delocalized film growth around deposits. Here, we overcome these problems by using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) to perform EBID and etching while eliminating charging artifacts at the nanoscale. Nanostructure morphology is tailored by slimming of deposits by ESEM imaging in the presence of a gaseous etch precursor and by pre-etching small features into a deposit (using a stationary or a scanned electron beam) prior to a final imaging process. The utility of this process is demonstrated by slimming of nanowires deposited by EBID, by the fabrication of gaps (between 4 and 7 nm wide) in the wires, and by the removal of thin films surrounding such nanowires. ESEM imaging provides a direct view of the slimming process, yielding process resolution that is limited by ESEM image resolution ( approximately 1 nm) and surface roughening occurring during etching.

Electron beam induced deposition ͑EBID͒ and etching ͑EBIE͒ are promising methods for the fabrication of three-dimensional nanodevices, wiring of nanostructures, and repair of photolithographic masks. Here, we study simultaneous EBID and EBIE, and demonstrate an athermal electron flux controlled transition between material deposition and etching. The switching is observed when one of the processes has both a higher efficiency and a lower precursor partial pressure than the other. This is demonstrated in two technologically important systems: during XeF 2 -mediated etching of chrome on a photolithographic mask and during deposition and etching of carbonaceous films on a semiconductor surface. Simultaneous EBID and EBIE can be used to enhance the spatial localization of etch profiles. It plays a key role in reducing contamination buildup rates during low vacuum electron imaging and deposition of high purity nanostructures in the presence of oxygen-containing gases.

The resolution of secondary electron (SE) images in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is limited by the SE diffusion length. However, most materials are poor electrical conductors and in practice, resolution and image information content are often limited by charging. We demonstrate how charging can be eliminated as the resolution-limiting factor using a gaseous SE detector for magnetic immersion electron lenses. Charging is stabilized by ions produced in a magnetic field-assisted gas ionization cascade. The charge control self-regulation process does not quench the SE imaging signal, thereby enabling high resolution image contrast mechanisms that are suppressed in high vacuum SEM.

We describe a magnetic field assisted, two-stage secondary electron gas amplification process for low vacuum scanning electron microscopy. The field of an ultrahigh resolution magnetic immersion objective lens and the electric field of an annular electrode configuration partition the amplification volume into two regions in which the electric and magnetic fields are parallel and crossed, respectively. The fields confine secondary electrons to axial and radial oscillations within the detector volume, until all of the kinetic energy imparted by an anode is dissipated through inelastic collisions with gas molecules. The electron confinement yields high gas amplification efficiency at short working distances and low gas pressures, facilitating high resolution imaging at low electron beam energies. Charging of insulating specimens is stabilized by positive ions produced in the gas ionization cascade. Furthermore, the signal to background level and bandwidth of this detector are superior to those of earlier generations of environmental secondary electron detectors. The combination of low vacuum, short working distance, and low beam energy is attractive to the semiconductor metrology industry, in particular, for critical dimension measurements on photolithographic masks.