A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• the introduction of lattice defects has been demonstrated in a variety of nanoengineering applications. The generation of vacancies, preferential sputtering of one atomic species over another, and the introduction of increasing amounts of disorder leading to eventual amorphization of a crystalline

• to preferential sputtering of sulfur, increasing the relative amount of molybdenum in the material. Finally, at even higher doses, insulating behavior re-emerged, presumed to be due to excessive material removal by sputtering. In related work, a nearest-neighbor hopping mechanism mediated by the

• et al. also observed semiconductor–insulator–metal transitions for increasing dose, noting preferential sputtering of selenium [29]. Here it was found that for a given dose, hole transport was degraded more than electron transport. The authors went on to demonstrate a lateral p–n-like homojunction by

On the transformation of “zincone”-like into porous ZnO thin films from sub-saturated plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition

• Alberto Perrotta,
• Julian Pilz,
• Stefan Pachmajer,
• Antonella Milella and
• Anna Maria Coclite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 746–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.74

• deposited at room temperature [40]. The O/Zn ratio is also reported in Table 1. All values are below unity, due to the preferential sputtering occurring when atomic masses of the measured elements are very different, which is the case of Zn and O. In the literature [61], the O/Zn ratios are generally

Numerical investigation of depth profiling capabilities of helium and neon ions in ion microscopy

• Patrick Philipp,
• Lukasz Rzeznik and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1749–1760, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.168

• SD_TRIM_SP to study preferential sputtering and atomic mixing in such samples up to a fluence of 1018 ions/cm2. Results show that helium primary ions are completely inappropriate for depth profiling applications with this kind of sample materials while results for neon are similar to argon. The latter is

• polymer samples as a function of ion bombardment conditions and sample composition to evaluate the different conditions for 3D depth profiling capabilities in ion microscopy. Of particular interest is the preferential sputtering and atomic mixing for the different irradiation conditions to determine the

• polymer sample. SRIM, which is based on the same concept, is not suited for this study because the preferential sputtering and atomic mixing are not taken into account, leading to significant discrepancy between experimental and simulation results [13]. Yet, diffusion processes in general are also not

Experimental and simulation-based investigation of He, Ne and Ar irradiation of polymers for ion microscopy

• Lukasz Rzeznik,
• Yves Fleming,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1113–1128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.104

• + bombardment influences roughness formation and preferential sputtering for polymer samples and how they compare to Ar+ primary ions used in classical SIMS by combining experimental techniques with Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and SD_TRIM_SP modelling. The results show that diffusion coefficients for He

• , Ne and Ar in polymers are sufficiently high to prevent any accumulation of rare gas atoms in the polymers which could lead to some swelling and bubble formation. Roughness formation was also not observed. Preferential sputtering is more of a problem, with enrichment of carbon up to surface

• concentrations above 80%. In general, the preferential sputtering is largely depending on the primary ion species and the impact energies. For He+ bombardment, it is more of an issue for low keV impact energies and for the heavier primary ion species the preferential sputtering is sample dependent. For He

High sensitivity and high resolution element 3D analysis by a combined SIMS–SPM instrument

• Yves Fleming and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1091–1099, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.110

• crystal orientation and the local angle of incidence of the ion beam influence local sputter yields [6]. In case the sample is constituted of different materials, the situation is worsened due to preferential sputtering phenomena. As a consequence, the produced 3D images are affected by uncertainties on

• initial topography of the sample surface shows domes of PVP in a sea of PS. After Cs+ sputtering, this initial topography flattens more and more due to preferential sputtering (not shown). From topography measurements before and after SIMS analysis, it was found that the erosion rate of PVP is

Observing the morphology of single-layered embedded silicon nanocrystals by using temperature-stable TEM membranes

• Sebastian Gutsch,
• Daniel Hiller,
• Jan Laube,
• Margit Zacharias and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 964–970, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.99

• molecules, which is supported by the observation of defect creation in SiO2 after electron irradiation [34] and a SiO2 thickness dependence on the hole drilling time when exposed to an intense electron probe [35]. Another possible explanation is certainly a preferential sputtering or knock-on of oxygen [36