Towards the third dimension in direct electron beam writing of silver

Carboxylates constitute an extremely promising class of precursor compounds for the electron beam induced deposition of silver. In this work both silver 2,2-dimethylbutyrate and silver pentafluoropropionate were investigated with respect to their dwell-time-dependent deposition behavior and growth characteristics. While silver 2,2-dimethylbutyrate showed a strong depletion in the center of the impinging electron beam profile hindering any vertical growth, silver pentafluoropropionate indicated a pronounced dependency of the deposit height on the dwell time. Truly three-dimensional silver structures could be realized with silver pentafluoropropionate. The pillars were polycrystalline with silver contents of more than 50 atom % and exhibit strong Raman enhancement. This constitutes a promising route towards the direct electron beam writing of three-dimensional plasmonic device parts from the gas phase.