Carbon nanoscrolls (CNS) with their open ended morphology have recently attracted interest due to the potential application in gas capture, biosensors and interconnects. However, CNS currently suffer from the same issue that have hindered widespread integration of CNTs in sensors and devices: formation is done ex situ, and the tubes have to be placed with precision and reliability-a difficult task with low yield. Here, we demonstrate controlled in situ formation of electrically contacted CNS from suspended graphene nanoribbons with slight tensile stress. Formation probability depends on the length to width aspect ratio. Van der Waals interaction between the overlapping layers fixes the nanoscroll once formed. The stability of these CNSs is investigated by helium nano ion beam assisted in situ cutting. The loose stubs remain rolled and mostly suspended unless subject to a moderate helium dose corresponding to a damage rate of 4%-20%. One CNS stub remaining perfectly straight even after touching the SiO substrate allows estimation of the bending moment due to van der Waals force between the CNS and the substrate. The bending moment of 5400 eV is comparable to previous theoretical studies. The cut CNSs show long-term stability when not touching the substrate.

The predicted quasiparticle energy gap of more than 1 eV in sub‐6 nm graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is elusive, as it is strongly suppressed by the substrate dielectric screening. The number of techniques that can produce suspended high‐quality and electrically contacted GNRs is small. The helium ion beam milling technique is capable of achieving sub‐5 nm patterning; however, the functional device fabrication and the electrical characteristics are not yet reported. Here, the electrical transport measurement of suspended ≈6 nm wide mono‐ and bilayer GNR functional devices is reported, which are obtained through sub‐nanometer resolution helium ion beam milling with controlled total helium ion budget. The transport gap opening of 0.16–0.8 eV is observed at room temperature. The measured transport gap of the different edge orientated GNRs is in good agreement with first‐principles simulation results. The enhanced electron–electron interaction and reduced dielectric screening in the suspended quasi‐1D GNRs and anti‐ferromagnetic coupling between opposite edges in the zigzag GNRs substantiate the observed large transport gap.

Focused ion beam technology with light gas ions has recently gained attention with the commercial helium and neon ion beam systems. These ions are atomic, and thus, the beam/sample interaction is well understood. In the case of the nitrogen ion beam, several questions remain due to the molecular nature of the source gas, and in particular, if and when the molecular bond is split. Here, the authors report a cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) study of irradiated single crystalline silicon by various doses and energies of nitrogen ionized in a gas field ion source. The shape and dimensions of the subsurface damage is compared to Monte Carlo simulations and show very good agreement with atomic nitrogen with half the initial energy. Thus, it is shown that the nitrogen molecule is ionized as such and splits upon impact and proceeds as two independent atoms with half of the total beam energy. This observation is substantiated by molecular dynamics calculations. High resolution STEM images show that the interface between amorphous and crystalline silicon is well defined to few tens of nanometers.