Ion beam induced nano-space reactions and nano-wire formation in polymers by high energy sub-μm heavy ion beams

Abstract

A high energy focused ion beam with sub-μm spatial resolution was used to produce isolated nano-wires which were planted on the substrate. Each charged particle penetrating into a polymer thin film gave a corresponding nano-wire, whose length reflected precisely the thickness of the target film. Based on the tight connection of one end of each nano-wire on the substrate, the focused ion beam achieved position selective nano-wire or nano-wire bundle formation on the substrate. The ion beam, with the small spot size ( ϕ) < 500 nm, was electrostatically controlled to irradiate the polymer thin films, leading to the patterns of nano-wire bundles with high spatial resolution < 500 nm. At a low fluence of the ion beam (< 10 9 ions cm − 2 ), the isolated nano-wires were observed at specific points on the substrate spaced at regular intervals, using atomic force microscopy.