Pillar Growth by Focused Electron Beam-Induced Deposition Using a Bimetallic Precursor as Model System: High-Energy Fragmentation vs. Low-Energy Decomposition.

Electron-induced fragmentation of the HFeCo(CO) precursor allows direct-write fabrication of 3D nanostructures with metallic contents of up to >95 at %. While microstructure and composition determine the physical and functional properties of focused electron beam-induced deposits, they also provide fundamental insights into the decomposition process of precursors, as elaborated in this study based on EDX and TEM. The results provide solid information suggesting that different dominant fragmentation channels are active in single-spot growth processes for pillar formation.

Additive Manufacturing of CoFe Nano-Probes for Magnetic Force Microscopy.

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) is a powerful extension of atomic force microscopy (AFM), which mostly uses nano-probes with functional coatings for studying magnetic surface features. Although well established, additional layers inherently increase apex radii, which reduce lateral resolution and also contain the risk of delamination, rendering such nano-probes doubtful or even useless. To overcome these limitations, we now introduce the additive direct-write fabrication of magnetic nano-cones via focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) using an HCoFe(CO) precursor.

Controlled Morphological Bending of 3D-FEBID Structures via Electron Beam Curing.

Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is one of the few additive, direct-write manufacturing techniques capable of depositing complex 3D nanostructures. In this work, we explore post-growth electron beam curing (EBC) of such platinum-based FEBID deposits, where free-standing, sheet-like elements were deformed in a targeted manner by local irradiation without precursor gas present. This process diminishes the volumes of exposed regions and alters nano-grain sizes, which was comprehensively characterized by SEM, TEM and AFM and complemented by Monte Carlo simulations.

Mesoscopic Structures and Coexisting Phases in Silica Films.

Silica films represent a unique two-dimensional film system, exhibiting both crystalline and vitreous forms. While much scientific work has focused on the atomic-scale features of this film system, mesoscale structures can play an important role for understanding confined space reactions and other applications of silica films. Here, we report on mesoscale structures in silica films grown under ultrahigh vacuum and examined with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Erratum: Bending Rigidity of 2D Silica [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 226101 (2018)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.