Ligand Size and Carbon-Chain Length Study of Silver Carboxylates in Focused Electron-Beam-Induced Deposition
Jakub Jurczyk,
Katja Höflich,
Katarzyna Madajska,
Luisa Berger,
Leo Brockhuis,
Thomas Edward James Edwards,
Czesław Kapusta,
Iwona B. Szymańska,
Ivo Utke
Affiliations
Jakub Jurczyk
Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
Katja Höflich
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin Für Materialien und Energie, Nanoscale Structures and Microscopic Analysis, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
Katarzyna Madajska
Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Luisa Berger
Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
Leo Brockhuis
Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
Thomas Edward James Edwards
Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
Czesław Kapusta
Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Krakow Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Iwona B. Szymańska
Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Ivo Utke
Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3602 Thun, Switzerland
Gas-assisted focused electron-beam-induced deposition is a versatile tool for the direct writing of complex-shaped nanostructures with unprecedented shape fidelity and resolution. While the technique is well-established for various materials, the direct electron beam writing of silver is still in its infancy. Here, we examine and compare five different silver carboxylates, three perfluorinated: [Ag2(µ-O2CCF3)2], [Ag2(µ-O2CC2F5)2], and [Ag2(µ-O2CC3F7)2], and two containing branched substituents: [Ag2(µ-O2CCMe2Et)2] and [Ag2(µ-O2CtBu)2], as potential precursors for focused electron-beam-induced deposition. All of the compounds show high sensitivity to electron dissociation and efficient dissociation of Ag-O bonds. The as-deposited materials have silver contents from 42 at.% to above 70 at.% and are composed of silver nano-crystals with impurities of carbon and fluorine between them. Precursors with the shortest carbon-fluorine chain ligands yield the highest silver contents. In addition, the deposited silver content depends on the balance of electron-induced ligand co-deposition and ligand desorption. For all of the tested compounds, low electron flux was related to high silver content. Our findings demonstrate that silver carboxylates constitute a promising group of precursors for gas-assisted focused electron beam writing of high silver content materials.
