Functional nickel-based deposits synthesized by focused beam induced processing

Functional nanostructures fabricated by focused electron/ion beam induced processing (FEBIP/FIBIP) open a promising route for applications in nanoelectronics. Such developments rely on the exploration of new advanced materials. We report here the successful fabrication of nickelbased deposits by FEBIP/FIBIP using bis(methyl cyclopentadienyl) nickel as a precursor. In particular, binary compounds such as nickel oxide (NiO) are synthesized by using an in situ twostep process at room temperature. By this method, as-grown Ni deposits transform into homogeneous NiO deposits using focused electron beam irradiation under O-2 flux. This procedure is effective in producing highly pure NiO deposits with resistivity of 2000 Ocm and a polycrystalline structure with face-centred cubic lattice and grains of 5 nm. We demonstrate that systems based on NiO deposits displaying resistance switching and an exchange-bias effect could be grown by FEBIP using optimized parameters. Our results provide a breakthrough towards using these techniques for the fabrication of functional nanodevices.