Formation of Nanostructures by Self‐Assembly

Abstract The increasing demands of the semiconductor industry to fabricate nanostructures of only a few nanometers in size has led to an intensified search for alternative nanofabrication methods. One approach is thebottom‐upstrategy, where nanostructures are built up of nanoparticles, molecules, or even atoms. The great challenge to control the nanostructure formation process can be achieved by use of self‐organization methods. In this chapter, selected routes for the fabrication of various nanostructures by self‐assembly processes are described, and details of the underlying basic physical principles are presented. The control over size, shape and composition of the formed nanostructures is an advantage of the methods addressed here, such as the self‐assembly of nanostructures by epitaxial growth, the formation of self‐assembled monolayers, and the formation of nanoparticle assemblies.