Focused ion beam microfabrication in FoturanTM photosensitive glass

The fabrication of nano-dimensional features in the photoetchable glass Foturan (TM) using focused ion beam technology has been characterized. To date, most microfabrication in this material has used UV lithography and UV lasers, with a minimum feature size of around 10 mu m determined by the grain structure, though there has been some recent work using high energy proton irradiation. Focused ion beam technology offers two potential advantages: features are etched directly without post bake or HF wet etch and features can be generated with lateral and depth resolution on the nanoscale. Initial test features were milled to a depth of 1.46 mu m, without distortion due to charging, at a milling rate of 0.23 mu m(3) nC(-1), in agreement with our simulations.