2D Manipulation of Nanoobjects by Perpendicular Electric Fields: Implications for Nanofabrication

Abstract

The capability to control the motion of nanoobjects on a surface would open perspectives in nanofabrication. Here, we show the proof of concept that the displacement of a 2D nanostructure on a surface can be controlled by means of two perpendicular electric elds. With a specically designed sample holder, we displace a 2D negative island on Si(001) along a close loop, in a low energy electron microscope. Our technique could be applied to other systems, to assemble nanomaterials.

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of the diffusion and shape evolution of single-layer clusters on a hexagonal lattice with and without external force

“…Surface diusion plays a key role in catalysis, adsorption, growth, reactivity, as it aects the stability and the morphology of material surfaces by means of step rearrangement [1] and cluster diusion [2]. Surface diusion is the most common surface transport process, so that recently it has been proposed to use it to control the motion of nano-objects on a surface [3]. This would open new perspectives in nanofabrication.…”

Mechanism of droplet motion and in-plane nanowire formation with and without electromigration

“…In our previous work [12] we have shown that, in the absence of EM, Au deposition on Si(110) results in droplets moving along the [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] axis in either direction and in the formation of Si nanowires. The interpretation of the observations is given in section 4.1.…”

“…Without EM, under Au deposition, the droplets move along the [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] axis in either direction as described in [12]. If an electric eld is applied along the [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] axis in a specic direction, then the droplets only move towards the positive electrode (opposite to the electric current) and leave dierent kind of traces on the substrate. The motion direction is consistent with that found under EM for Au droplets on Si (100) [2325].…”

“…Horizontal nanowires can also be grown on Si(110). We have shown that during Au deposition on Si(110) at temperatures higher than the eutectic temperature (633 K) elongated liquid droplets form, move on the substrate along a unique axis but in both directions ( [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and [-110]) and leave in-plane Si nanowires at their back [12,13]. The randomness of the motion direction of the droplet limits the degrees of control and thus the perspectives of possible applications.…”

Path Planning for 3-D In-Hand Manipulation of Micro-Objects Using Rotation Decomposition

“…We can distinguish two approaches to manipulate micro-objects. The first one is non-contact manipulation, where the forces (magnetic or electrostatic, for instance) are exerted at a certain distance from the manipulated objects [ 3 , 4 ]. This approach has many benefits such as direct action on specific objects (cells, etc.)…”