A focused electron beam of a scanning electron microscope has been utilized to directly deposit metal structures acting as catalyst for Si-nanowire growth. Synthesis of silicon nanowires is perfomed by vapor-liquid-solid growth catalysed by gold nanoparticles. Conventional approaches rely on blanket layers of metal island films or colloid suspensions for introducing the catalytic sites to the surface. With electron-beam induced deposition for the first time the synthesis of catalytic areas was accomplished by locally confined deposition of the catalytic metal. Direct deposition of  material was performed by local decomposition of a metalorganic gold precursor utilizing a focused electron beam. This maskless, resistless technique allows to custom-tailor the density and geometry of catalytic sites simply by scanning the focused electron beam. The optimum process parameters (scan parameters, precursor pressure) were investigated. The catalytic sites were designed utilizing a pattern generator for scanning the beam. Images of the resulting features will be shown and the resulting Si nanowire growth will be discussed. The potential of electron-beam induced deposition of catalyst arrays for other nanostructure synthesis will be discussed.

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