Fabrication of ultrafine nanostructures with single-nanometre precision in a high-resolution transmission electron microscope

Highly ordered ultrafine nanostructures (feature size <10 nm) have been successfully fabricated with single-nanometre precision using a convergent electron beam (CEB) in a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). This approach can be widely applied to inorganic solid-state materials including insulators, semiconductors and metals. The feature size can be precisely controlled by the probe size and the irradiation time. The formation mechanism of nanostructures fabricated by CEB has been discussed in terms of knock-on damage and the beam heating effect. On the basis of the experimental results of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), finite element thermal analysis reveals that the heating effect of the high-energy electron beam is negligible in inorganic solid-state materials, and the sculpting of nanostructures is predominated by the knock-on damage or ionization of high-energy electrons.