Procedure for etching of materials at the surface with focussed electron beam induced chemical reaction at said surface

Procedure for etching a sample, said sample comprising a material and having a surface, by focussed electron beam induced chemical reaction at said surface and in a portion of said material, comprising the steps of:

• a. providing an electron beam column capable of generating a focussed electron beam,
• b. feeding, in a vacuum atmosphere, molecules of a reaction gas to said surface of said sample,
• c. irradiating said surface, said portion of material of said sample to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas in said vacuum atmosphere with at least one first beam of electrons;
• said surface, said portion of said material to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas undergo a chemical reaction forming a reaction product which is not gaseous and not volatile, said reaction product having a vaporisation temperature and a sublimation temperature, and
• d. irradiating said reaction product with a second electron beam which heats said reaction product and said material locally above at least one of said vaporisation temperature and said sublimation temperature to remove said reaction product from said surface;
• wherein said first electron beam and said second electron beam are generated by different settings of the same electron beam column.

Procedure for etching a sample, said sample comprising a material and having a surface, by focussed electron beam induced chemical reaction at said surface and in a portion of said material, comprising the steps of:

• a. providing an electron beam column capable of generating a focussed electron beam,
• b. feeding, in a vacuum atmosphere, molecules of a reaction gas to said surface of said sample,
• c. irradiating said surface, said portion of material of said sample to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas in said vacuum atmosphere with at least one first beam of electrons;
• said surface, said portion of said material to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas undergo a chemical reaction forming a reaction product which is not gaseous and not volatile, said reaction product having a vaporisation temperature and a sublimation temperature,
• d. irradiating said reaction product with a second electron beam which heats said reaction product and said material locally above at least one of said vaporisation temperature and said sublimation temperature to remove said reaction product from said surface;
• wherein said second beam of electrons has a higher intensity than said first beam of electrons.

Procedure for etching a sample, said sample comprising a material and having a surface, by focussed electron beam induced chemical reaction at said surface and in a portion of said material, comprising the steps of:

• a. providing an electron beam column capable of generating a plurality of focussed electron beams using different apertures;
• b. heating said sample with a first electron beam to clean said surface of said sample and desorb adsorbates;
• c. generating adsorption sites for molecules of a reaction gas with a second electron beam scan;
• d. feeding, in a vacuum atmosphere, molecules of a reaction gas to said surface of said sample,
• e. irradiating said surface, said portion of material of said sample to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas in said vacuum atmosphere with at least one third beam of electrons;
• said surface, said portion of said material to be etched and said molecules of said reaction gas undergo a chemical reaction forming a reaction product which is not gaseous and not volatile, said reaction product having a vaporisation temperature and a sublimation temperature;
• and
• f. irradiating said reaction product with a fourth electron beam which is a pulsed power beam which heats said reaction product and said material locally above at least one of said vaporisation temperature and said sublimation temperature to remove said reaction products from said surface;
• wherein said first, said second and said third electron beams are generated by different settings of the same electron beam column.