Contamination lithography has been performed on various metal substrates by focused electron beam-induced deposition (EBID) technique in a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). We used pump oil (hydrocarbon) as precursors for EBID. It was found that the growth rate was independent of primary electron energy (500 to 30 keV) but was varied with elements ranging from 0.34 to 2.97 mu/min. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy measurement revealed that the grown nanowire contains a substrate element. A complicated mesh patterns with nanofigures was successfully fabricated manually with optimal growth conditions. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.