Nano-fabrication on Si oxide/Si surface by using STM: A low energy electron beam stimulated reaction

We report here an experimental study on nano-fabrication of the Si oxide/Si surface with a low energy electron stimulated reaction (LEESR) by using STM. By applying ~60 to 150 V bias voltage and exposing ~5 to 200 nA current to the Si oxide/Si surface, while the surface was kept at ~700°C and 100-200 nm away from the STM tip, a surface reaction was stimulated by the low energy e-beam exposing. Clean Si surface with clear atomic steps was observed within the exposed area that indicates a selective etching of Si oxide, by which windows down to 25 nm in diameter can be cut through the Si oxide overlayer. This result demonstrates evidently the possibility of nano-fabricating the Si oxide/Si surface through the low energy electron stimulated surface etching, and presents also another possibility of performing a well controlled nano-fabrication with the STM.