Electron beam nanoprocessing of a carbon nanotube film using a variable pressure scanning electron microscope

We demonstrate a novel method of processing carbon nanotubes using a variable pressure scanning electron microscope. Lines were processed in a nanotube film by electron beam irradiation in oxygen gas and nitrogen gas. The processing mechanism can be explained in terms of gas ion sputtering and chemical reaction. In this experiment, the narrowest line width of 120 nm was achieved in a nitrogen atmosphere.