Abstract
Nanometre scale processing was performed on vacuum-deposited single crystalline magnesium oxide films by using a nanometre-sized electron beam in highresolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Two kinds of processing, drilling and edge-flattening, were demonstrated. The resolution of the present processing was demonstrated by the minimum size of the holes being about 4 nm and the minimum distance between holes being 14nm. The shape modulation during the processing was observed for the first time in situ dynamically at atomic resolution. The dynamic observations in HRTEM showed that the processing is caused by desorption of constituent atoms from the solid state surface of the magnesium oxide films. It was found that the size of the processing area could be controlled at the atomic scale by adjusting the irradiation time during the in situ observation of the processing.