Switching to E-Beam lithography

So after some trial and error we have found that ion beam milling will not be a suitable substitute for e-beam lithography in fabricating our controlled roughness sample.  The ion beam redeposits gallium as it mills and that could create a terrace but would have added roughness from the gallium.  Also this technique creates a V shaped channel which I am concerned will create a surface on which additional surfactant adsorption could occur and effect the adsorption on the terrace surface.  This would defeat the purpose of having a terrace separating adsorbed layer from the rest of the surface.  We will need to wait for the e-beam to be ready to use and while this is a small setback, it provides time to learn to use the Quartz crystal micro balance and practice using the liquid cell with AFM.  Happy Holidays!