Fast and Efficient Simulation of the FEBID Process with Thermal Effects

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Focused electron-beam-induced deposition (FEBID) is a key technique for 3D nanofabrication of functional materials.
• Accurate shape transfer in 3D FEBID is hindered by non-local effects like precursor depletion, electron scattering, and beam-induced heating.
• Existing simulation methods may not fully capture these complex growth dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient and fast numerical approach for simulating 3D FEBID growth.
• To systematically investigate the impact of key growth parameters on the final shape of 3D nanostructures.
• To enable accurate shape transfer from digital models to physical deposits in 3D FEBID.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel, efficient numerical simulation for 3D FEBID growth.
• Systematic parameter variation within the simulation to study growth influences.
• Derivation of a precursor parameter set for Me3PtCpMe, incorporating beam-induced heating effects.
• Validation against experimentally fabricated nanostructures.

Main Results:

• The simulation accurately replicates experimentally fabricated nanostructures, including the effects of beam-induced heating.
• The developed method allows for rapid analysis of growth parameter influences on 3D structure morphology.
• A specific parameter set for the Me3PtCpMe precursor was established for accurate modeling.
• The simulation approach is modular and amenable to performance enhancements via parallelization or GPU acceleration.

Conclusions:

• The fast numerical simulation approach significantly improves the shape fidelity of 3D FEBID.
• This method provides a powerful tool for optimizing 3D FEBID processes and designing complex nanostructures.
• Routine integration of this simulation into beam-control pattern generation will enhance 3D FEBID capabilities for precise nanofabrication.