TY - CONF A1 - Weinel, Kristina A1 - Gonzalez-Martinez, I. A1 - Agudo Jacome, Leonardo T1 - Damage induced by electric field of gold microparticles on silicon oxide substrate in the scanning electron microscope N2 - 1. Introduction A normally unwanted process that can arise when converging an electron beam onto, e.g. microparticles, has been called "damage induced by electric field" (DIEF) [1]. By DIEF, the convergent electron beam (CEB) imparts a high amount of energy to the microparticle locally and strongly interacts with its atoms. At a specific current density J, which can be controlled by the convergence angle α, the irradiated material begins to transform. The phenomenon of expelling nanomaterial from microparticles under the influence of a convergent electron beam (CB) in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) has been largely studied [2]. Several types of nanoparticles (NPs) have been observed for different metallic materials and metal oxides after specific CB protocols (P) in the TEM. Thus, DIEF can be used as a promising synthesis method controlled changes of micrometric material to create new nanometric material compositions and morphologies. While these reactions have been observed in situ at the high acceleration voltages associated with TEM, it remains unclear whether the SEM can also be used to fabricate NPs via DIEF. In contrast to TEM there is no possibility to statically convert the electron beam to a range of α to reach the needed J as in TEM. Instead, the scanning parameters and the magnification can be manipulated so as to find an integrated J. Considering that the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is easier to use, more accessible and cheaper than a TEM, here we explore the possibility to transfer the concepts of DIEF known to operate in the TEM for in situ NP generation SEM. 2. Objectives The main goal is to determine whether DIEF can be translated to the SEM perform to controlled in situ fabrication of nanoparticles from microparticles, using gold microparticles on amorphous SiO substrate as precursors. We determine what experimental parameters must be taken into account to create SEM-based CBPs for NP creation in the SEM with these materials. 3. Materials & methods Gold microparticles with diameter of around 1 to 3 µm were deposited on electron transparent amorphous SiO/SiO2 substrate. Using a convergent electron beam protocol (CBP) in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at an acceleration voltage of 30 kV, the gold microparticles were irradiated until a production of NPs takes place as shown in figure 1. The beam current varied between 16 and 23 nA. 4. Results Depending on the CBP parameters, either only Au NPs or a mixture of Au and Si NPs are produced. The particle size ranges from a few nm up to 100 nm, and it depends on the distance of the NP to the initial position of the microparticle. Further beam parameters such as the dwell time, the effective irradiated volume and particle size determine whether NPs are produced or if the microparticles only are expelled from the substrate without reacting. 5. Conclusion The SEM can be used as an instrument for synthesizing nanomaterials via DIEF. Different CBP protocols can be applied for obtaining either gold nanoparticles or silicon + gold nanoparticles T2 - Microscopy Conference CY - Darmstadt, Germany DA - 26.02.2023 KW - Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) KW - Gold nanoparticles KW - Electron beam induced modification PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58261 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weinel, Kristina A1 - Hesse, René A1 - Agudo Jacome, Leonardo A1 - Gonzalez-Martinez, I. T1 - Complex artificial features on a TEM transparent membrane N2 - The phenomenon of expelling nanomaterial from microparticles of different materials, such as Au, WO3 or B2O3 under the influence of a convergent electron beam (CB) of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) was reviewed by Ignacio Gonzalez-Martinez [1]. Converging the e-beam in a TEM means that a high amount of energy enters the microparticle at a very local place and interact with the matter. Obviously, during the convergent beam protocol, no imaging with the electron beam is possible, but at the end, nanoparticles with different appearances lie down next to the microparticle while its size is reduced. Hence, there is a blind spot in the observation, which we want to fill, as we want to help clarify the nature of the expelling phenomenon. One hypothesis that explains the phenomenon is the so-called damage (of the microparticle) induced by an electric field (DIEF). Within this theory, the material is ionized and expelled in form of ionic waves. Our aim is therefore to fabricate specimens with artificial microlandscapes, as schematically exemplified in figure 1a), using the focused ion beam (FIB) and micromanipulators, as experimental setups to follow the paths of the expelled material. As a first step towards the fabrication of such specimen, we make experimental feasibility studies for each fabrication method, FIB structuring with Ga+ ion beam and micromanipulated microparticle deposition. Bridges (gray regions in Fig. 1) are created by milling a commercially available electron transparent membrane (silicon oxide or carbon) of a Cu-TEM grid. Platinum or carbon walls (blue features in Fig. 1) are built to stand on those bridges. Microparticles (yellow sphere in Fig. 1) of gold or other material are deposited in the center of the bridges. Figure 2a) shows four square holes (black area) and between them the residual silicon oxide membrane bridges (dark grey). On top of the bridges, walls (light grey) are deposited. The width of the bridges is different, the walls overlap the holes as well as the distance between the walls is very small, so these and other parameters need to be optimized. Figure 2b) shows a square hole (black) with bridges (white) on the right side on top of a carbon membrane (grey). There are still some obstacles which needs to be eliminated. For instance, the deposition process of the walls is not reliable as visible at the wall on top where a hole arises instead of a wall. These studies are still in progress and the results are further discussed in terms of the applicability for the DIEF experiment in the TEM. T2 - 4th EuFN and FIT4NANO Joint Workshop / Meeting CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 27.09.2021 KW - Transmission electron microscope (TEM) KW - Sample preparation KW - Micromanipulation KW - Focussed ion beam growth KW - Nano-landscape PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-58259 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weinel, Kristina A1 - Gonzalez-Martinez, I. A1 - Agudo Jacome, Leonardo T1 - Damage induced by electric field of microparticles in the electron microscope N2 - Damage induced by electric field (DIEF) that happens in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) when converging the electron beam (e-beam) on microparticles (MPs) can be used to synthesis new nanomaterial and nanomaterial compositions. The research questions are to clarify the limits and possibilities of the method regarding materials that can be produced, systems to which it is applicable and working beam parameters. Synthesis of nano-objects from microparticles using DIEF in TEM could be shown for different materials. Additionally, DIEF using the e-beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) can also be used to synthesis nano-objects. A deeper material analysis of this nano-objects was done using TEM and shows that the material of the nanoparticles (NPs) can be gold or/and silicon. Furthermore, the size of the NPs depends on the distance to the center of DIEF whereby the larger NPs are closer to the center. The areas of gold NPs are promising candidates for plasmonic or photonic devices for energy storage or transport. T2 - PhD-Day 2022 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 06.09.2022 KW - Electron microscopy KW - Electron beam induced modification KW - Gold nanoparticles PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-58264 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -