Nano-fabrication processes for magnesium diboride

✍ Scribed by Hiroyuki Shibata; Tatsushi Akazaki; Yasuhiro Tokura

• Book ID: 104084396
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 249 KB
• Volume: 470
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-4534
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physc.2009.12.013

✦ Synopsis

We compare the various nanowire fabrication processes for MgB 2 ultra-thin films: Ar ion beam milling with or without a protective layer (Au and SiO 2 ), an reactive ion etching (RIE) with fluorine-based gas, and a liftoff process using an Si/C bilayer mask. With Ar milling, we can fabricate nanowires down to 200 nm-wide, but the superconducting properties degrade as the width decreases further. MgB 2 can be etched by the fluorine-based RIE, but the etch rate is too slow for fabrication. The liftoff process gives the reliable and damage-free nanowires down to 100 nm-wide.