Theoretical investigation of electron impact scattering cross sections of metal carbonyl precursors for FEBID applications

Abstract

In this work, we have computed electron impact scattering cross sections for the organometallic complexes ${\mathrm{Ni(CO)}}_4$ and ${\mathrm{Fe(CO)}}_5$ that are used as precursors in the Focused Electron Beam Induced Deposition (FEBID) technique. We have used a Spherical Complex Optical Potential (SCOP) formalism to calculate the total, integral elastic, inelastic, and momentum transfer cross sections and employed Complex Scattering Potential-ionization contribution (CSP-ic) formalism to calculate the ionization cross section for molecular targets. Calculations are performed above the ionization potential of targets in the energy range 12 – 5000 eV. We compare our results with the available data in the literature for ${\mathrm{Ni(CO)}}_4$, and due to the scarcity of available data for comparison and evaluation of our results, we use the reported values for ${\mathrm{W(CO)}}_6$ in our previous work as a qualitative reference. These findings provide critical cross section data for modeling the deposition of metal carbonyl precursors in the FEBID technique.