Direct electron beam writing of nanostructures using passivated gold clusters

Direct electron beam writing of metallic nanostructures using metallorganic compounds as precursors offers a method of fabricating nanostructures with a reduced number of processing steps compared with conventional electron beam lithography (EBL). We have used passivated gold nanoclusters, prepared as a thin layer on highly orientated pyrolitic graphite (HOPG), to produce gold nanostructures directly. The passivating organic ligands were removed by an electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), thus allowing the gold to aggregate and form nanostructures. The resulting structures have a width as small as 26nm with a separation as low as 30nm. The nanostructures are stable and remain intact after removal from the SEM. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirms that the structures do indeed contain gold