International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Research Applications and Utilization of Accelerators

4-8 May 2009, Vienna

Focused Ion Beam Writing of Optical Patterns in Amorphous Silicon Carbide

T. Tsvetkova¹, S. Takahashi², P. Dawson², A.V. Zayats², L. Bischoff³, O. Angelov⁴, and D. Dimova-Malinovska⁴

¹Institute of Solid State Physics, Sofia, Bulgaria
²Queens University of Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
³Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V., Dresden, Germany
⁴Central Laboratory for Solar Energy, Sofia, Bulgaria

Corresponding Author: tania tsvetkova@yahoo.co.uk

In the present work we investigate the use of ion beam techniques for properties modification and optimisation of wide-bandgap materials with view of their uses in sub-micron lithography and high-density data storage for archival purposes. We propose scanning near-field optical microscopyas a novel technique for characterizing the ion-implanted patterns fabricated in amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H). Different patterns have been fabricated in a-SiC:H films with a focused Ga+ – ion beam system and examined with scanning near-field optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Although a considerable thickness change (thinning tendency) has been observed in the ion-irradiated areas, the near-field measurements confirm increases of optical absorption in these areas. The observed values of the optical contrast modulation are sufficient to justify the efficiency of the method for optical data recording using focused ion beams.

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