Swift Heavy Ion Shaping of Sub-Micron Structures

We applied swift heavy ions (SHI) for shaping of already existing submicron- and nano-scale structures by irradiation at small angles and simultaneous azimuthal rotation. The investigated samples consisted of 100nm thick films of NiO or ZnO deposited on an oxidized Si-wafer by reactive magnetron sputtering. Prestructuring into 3-dimensional sub-μm and nm-sized objects with quadratic or rectangular cross-sections was done by means of focused ion beam technique. The process produced a grid of perpendicular lines cut into the film, reaching from the surface down to the interface and having line distances varying between 5 μm and 250 nm. These samples were then irradiated with SHI in the chamber of our new in-situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) installed at the M1-beamline of the UNILAC.