Focused helium ion beam milling and deposition

The use of a helium ion microscope with an integrated gas injection system for nanofabrication is explored by demonstrating the milling of fine features into single layered graphene and the controlled deposition of tungsten and platinum wires from gaseous precursors. Using pattern generator software to control the path of the beam, nanoelectronic device designs are transferred directly into graphene. Four point contact designs are also defined on SiO2/Si surfaces with atomic force microscopy used to characterize the resulting depositions. Although further optimization of the processes is required and questions of beam-induced damage to the delicate graphene lattice are yet to be answered, the helium ion microscope shows potential to go beyond what is possible with Ga+ focused ion beam technologies in nanoscale device fabrication. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.