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Dissociative electron attachment and dissociative ionization of CF3AuCNC(CH3)3, a potential FEBID precursor for gold deposition

  • Regular Article – Atomic and Molecular Collisions
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Abstract

Appreciable effort is currently committed to designing suitable organometallic precursors for fabrication of metallic nanostructures with focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID)—a direct write method with high potential for 3D patterning. In this context, the initial interaction of the potential precursor with low energy electrons is critical and the extent of electron-induced ligand loss determines the composition of the resulting deposits. Specifically of interest are gold-containing precursors, as the optoelectronic properties of gold provide potential for a variety of plasmonic and light enhancing applications of 3D nanostructures. Here, we study low energy electron-induced fragmentation of CF3AuCNC(CH3)3 through dissociative ionization (DI) and dissociative electron attachment (DEA) in the gas phase under single collision conditions and under conditions where collisional stabilization is provided. We further compare the fragmentation patterns observed under these conditions with the composition of deposits formed from this precursor under FEBID conditions. In DI, a significant difference in relative intensities is found under single collision conditions as compared to conditions where collisional stabilization is provided, while under both these conditions, only the same DEA channel is open. Comparison with the composition of deposits formed under FEBID conditions shows that the initial electron-induced fragmentation processes are not directly reflected in the deposit’s composition. Rather, we expect these to determine the initial composition of immobilized fragments, while the final composition of the deposit is determined by electron-induced secondary and tertiary reactions caused by further irradiation after immobilization.

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Data Availability Statement

This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you, Michael, for your friendship and good times and all your contributions to the electron molecule interaction community. This work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 722149. O.I. and A.K. acknowledge support from the Icelandic Centre of Research (RANNIS), Grant No. 185346-05. L.M.-W and W.G.C. thank the National Science Foundation for their support under Grant CHE-1904802. Support of MS instrumentation at the University of Florida was provided by the National Institutes of Health through the Grant S10 OD021758-01A1. The authors thank Dr. Ragnar Björnsson for constructive discussions during the preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Institute and Department of Chemistry, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 3, 107, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Ali Kamali & O. Ingólfsson

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7200, USA

    Will G. Carden, Jodie V. Johnson & Lisa McElwee-White

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Contributions

AK contributed to investigation, calculations, formal analysis, validation, writing—original draft, visualization. WGC contributed to resources, investigation. JVJ contributed to resources, investigation. LM-W contributed to funding acquisition, conceptualization, supervision, resources, writing—review and editing. OI contributed to project administration, conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision, writing—review and editing, methodology.

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Correspondence to O. Ingólfsson.

Additional information

Reminiscence of good times More than one article could be written about Michael Brunger, the Hippy, and they would all be a testimony of a memorable man, a good scientist and more importantly a humorous, tolerant, and a very good person, moreover, they would be fun to read. However, in his spirit, I'm going to keep it short.

I was so fortunate to enjoy Michael’s friendship, and his support and collaboration in science, in science administration (politics :-) and in personal matters. He also became dear to my children, when he generously hosted me and my family in Adelaide during my sabbatical in 2012, an experience we still talk about at the dinner table, now more than 10 years later. In one of our more personal conversations about lost ones, Michal said „...as long as you are still talked about, you are not gone.“. With all the opportunities the Hippy has provided for reminiscence of good times, there is no doubt that many will talk kindly and of respect of him long time from now.

Oddur

T.I.: Electron and Positron Interactions and Their Applications-a tribute to Professor Michael Brunger. Guest editors: Márcio Henrique Franco Bettega, Stephen Buckman, Dragana Maric, Sylwia Ptasinska, Ron White.

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Kamali, A., Carden, W.G., Johnson, J.V. et al. Dissociative electron attachment and dissociative ionization of CF3AuCNC(CH3)3, a potential FEBID precursor for gold deposition. Eur. Phys. J. D 77, 157 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00721-6

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