Guided formation of a Sub-10 nm suicide dot array on an area patterned by electron-beam lithography

A study was conducted to demonstrate a new method for fabricating high-density and sub-10 nm Pd₂Si dot in a patterned array. The dots were formed by the interaction between Pd and amorphous silicon (Si), with the aid of e-beam exposure. The study also demonstrated the new method that defined the area in which the dots were formed and enabled the formation of high-density sub-10 nm dots below the resolution limit of e-beam patterning in a single a single step process. The e-beam exposures for the nanometer scale patterns were conducted with a LEICA LION-LVI, with a beam radius of approximately 1 nm. The samples collected after e-beam exposures were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The temperature was maintained below 100°C to minimize any interfacial reaction during the preparation of the TEM specimen.