Electron-beam induced carbon deposition used as a mask for cadmium sulfide deposition on Si(100)

The present work investigates the use of carbon masks, deposited on n-type Si(100) surfaces in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), for electrochemical nanopatterning. Carbon contamination lines were written at different electron doses on the n-type Si(100) surfaces and characterized by AFM. Subsequently, deposition of US was carried out by electrodeposition of Cd from a 1 mM CdF2 + 0.05 M NaF solution followed by a chemical treatment in 1 M Na2S. US deposits were prepared under various electrochemical conditions and were characterized by SEM, scanning Auger electron spectroscopy and optical techniques including fluorescence and photoluminescence measurements. It is demonstrated that under optimized electrochemical conditions carbon deposits of less than 1 nm thickness and in a width of 100 nm range can act as a negative resist, i.e. can block the deposition of US completely and selectively and thus can be used for nanopatterning. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.