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

Ammonia (NH(3))-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 NH(3) 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 NH(3) 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 NH(3) 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.