Precursor Development for Direct-Writing of Inorganic Nanostructures

Focused electron/ion beam deposition (FEBID, FIBID) allow the spatially controlled formation of nanoparticles, thin film patches, nanowires and free-standing complex nanoarchitectures on a wide range of substrate materials. Moreover, the method enables a growth on structured surfaces and the formation of predefined arrays by this maskless direct-write approach. However, the purity of the as-grown material is typically limited. Therefore, the method requires precursor development to provide chemical impetus driving the methods applicability. This contribution will highlight the precursor development for this nanoprinting approach.[1] Specific examples of precursors will be discussed that enable for the direct deposition of binary deposits. The knowledge gained is applied to the synthesis procedures for metal silicide and alloy formation as well as functional metal carbides.[2,3]<br/><br/>Acknowledgment: S.B. acknowledges generous financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) project 413940754 and 413942347.<br/><br/><br/><i>References:</i><br/>[1] J. Mater. Chem. C <b>2020</b>, 8, 15884-15919.<br/>[2] <i>ACS Appl. Nano Mater.</i> <b>2022</b>, doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c03074.<br/><i>[3] Adv. Funct. Mater.</i> <b>2022</b><i>, 2203889.</i>