Novel Nano- and Micro-Processing by Photoactivation of Methylene Iodide Precursor

Abstract

In this letter we present methylene iodide as a versatile precursor for nano- and microprocessing. It allows the deposition of Carbon micro/nano-fibers and nanotubes via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using different metal catalysts (Pd, Ni, Fe, Co and Mn) on Si (100) substrates. Here, a versatile and low-cost IR lamp technique is employed to induce the deposition process. With this method carbon features could be obtained already at temperatures much lower than with common techniques. When utilizing 193nm excimer laser pulses, the precursor is activated to induce etching of Si and simultaneous deposition of carbon, at high local separation. The existence of thermally defined chemical boundaries suggests the possibility of high confinement and the formation etching/deposition structures of sub-micron sizes.