Development of three-dimensional pattern-generating system for focused-ion-beam chemical-vapor deposition

We studied the fabrication of free-designed three-dimensional (3D) structures by using focused-ion-beam chemical-vapor deposition. The 3D structures are fabricated by scanning 30 keV Ga+ ion-beam-assisted deposition in a 1 x 10(-4) Pa phenanthrene atmosphere. The scanning pattern and blanking signal of the ion beam are generated by a 3D computer-aided-designed model using a computer pattern-generating system. This 3D pattern-generating system is able to fabricate overhang and hollow structures by setting suitable parameters (for example, plot pitch, dwell time, time interval of irradiations, and priorities of scanning). In this article, we demonstrate the performance of a 3D pattern-generating system by fabricating a 1:100000000 scale model of the Enterprise spaceship, a microring, a moth's eyelike structure, and a morpho butterflylike structure with 200 nm spacing. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.