Focused ion beam induced synthesis of a porous antimony nanowire network

We present a focused ion beam-based approach for the synthesis of an antimony nanofiber network. The nanofibers, with a homogeneous distribution of diameters of about 25 nm and lengths up to several microns, are synthesized in a self-assembling process without any additional material source at room temperature. It is possible to recrystallize the as-grown amorphous nanofibers by moderate rapid thermal annealing at 473 K. These results have been verified by means of scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. As this approach is not limited solely to the material discussed here, other substrates (e.g., GaSb and Ge) and ion sources should extend this method to other materials, which offers a great potential for future nanoscale devices and applications.