Ion-beam assisted self-assembly of metallic nanostructures

In this paper, we discuss how ion-beam techniques can be used to accurately direct the self-assembly of metallic nanostructures. Fabrication of micrometer-scale three-dimensional cubes (boxes) is demonstrated. The milling by ion-beam locally modifies the thickness of the film and its structures such as grains boundaries, film surface, and film/vacuum interface. The local manipulation can be done according to a design, either at once (parallel), or in a sequence within an electron/ion (SEM/FIB) dual-beam microscope.