Continuous cellular automaton simulation of focused ion beam-induced deposition for nano structures

With the assistance of a gas injection system, focused ion beam-induced deposition (FIBID) can be realized to fabricate complicated three-dimensional structures in nanoscale. The growth rate of the deposited structure depends on the flux of precursor gas and incident ions. In this study, a Continuous Cellular Automaton (CCA) model is put forward to simulate the FIBID process, with four rules established to initiate and dominate the interface evolution, which can calculate the deposited structure profile under different fabrication conditions. In this model, the sputtering and diffusion effects are taken into account to establish a more accurate relationship between the deposition rate and precursor gas flux based on the continuous model, and the influences imposed by precursor gas and incident ions are clarified. In order to verify the precursor gas distribution and the growth mechanism of the FIBID, experiments are carried out with different local precursor gas flux on the substrate surface with a 7 pA and 30 keV Ga ions, using C₉H₁₆Pt as the precursor gas. The experimental and simulation results indicate that the CCA model features a high accuracy in predicting the deposited structure profile, and prove that the proposed model can be utilized in fabrication parameters optimization.