Combined Ammonia and Electron Processing of a Carbon-Rich Ruthenium Nanomaterial Fabricated by Electron-Induced...

Ammonia (NH₃)-assisted purification of deposits fabricated by focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) has recently been proven successful for the removal of halide contaminations. Herein, we demonstrate the impact of combined NH₃ and electron processing on FEBID deposits containing hydrocarbon contaminations that stem from anionic cyclopentadienyl-type ligands. For this purpose, we performed FEBID using bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium(II) as the precursor and subjected the resulting deposits to NH₃ and electron processing, both in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) and in a surface science study under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. The results provide evidence that nitrogen from NH₃ is incorporated into the carbon content of the deposits which results in a covalent nitride material. This approach opens a perspective to combine the promising properties of carbon nitrides with respect to photocatalysis or nanosensing with the unique 3D nanoprinting capabilities of FEBID, enabling access to a novel class of tailored nanodevices.