Direct writing of nanostructures from silane on silicon (111)

Silicon based structures were fabricated using scanning tunneling microscope on a Si(111) surface by the localized decomposition of gaseous silane at pressures of 10−5–10−6 Torr. Continuous wires of width 5 nm could be produced while atomically resolved images of the nearby substrate were obtained. We argue that the fabrication process is effected by field-assisted decomposition of silane on the tip surface, which subsequently migrates to the tunneling region at the tip apex where it field desorbs to the silicon surface.