Analyzing Nanogranularity of Focused Electron-Beam-Induced Deposited (FEBID) Materials by Electron Tomography

TL;DR

This paper uses electron tomography to analyze the internal nanogranular structure of FEBID materials, revealing how electron beam curing modifies the distribution and connectivity of embedded metal nanograins.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of electron tomography to characterize internal nanostructures in FEBID materials and demonstrates how curing affects nanograin connectivity.

Findings

Electron beam curing creates interconnected metal nanograins.

Tomography reveals detailed 3D distribution of nanogranules.

Curing enhances electrical and mechanical properties.

Abstract

Nanogranular material systems are promising for a variety of applications in research and development. Their physical properties are often determined by grain sizes, shapes, mutual distances and by the chemistry of the embedding matrix With focused electron beam induced deposition arbitrarily shaped nanocomposite materials can be designed, where metallic, nanogranular structures are embedded in a carbonaceous matrix. Using "post-growth" electron beam curing, these materials can be tuned for improved electric transport or mechanical behavior. Such an optimization necessitates a thorough understanding and characterization of the internal changes in chemistry and morphology, which is where conventional projection based imaging techniques fall short. Here, we apply scanning transmission electron tomography to get a comprehensive picture of the distribution and morphology degree of embedded Pt nanograins after initial fabrication, and we demonstrate the impact of electron beam curing, which leads to condensed regions of interconnected metal nanograins.