Selective area deposition of boron on Si(111) induced by synchrotron radiation

We have performed the first deposition of boron on Si(111) induced by broadband synchrotron radiation (SR). Contamination‐free thin films were grown at room temperature using decaborane (B10H14) as the source gas. After deposition the films were examined using photoelectron microscopy, which showed that film growth was limited to the region illuminated by SR. The temperature of the substrate rose less than 10 K. These results indicate that gas‐phase excitations are not important and that the films are deposited by a nonthermal, photoinduced mechanism. Masked exposures demonstrate the potential of this technique for patterned deposition.