3D Nanoprinting via laser-assisted electron beam induced deposition: growth kinetics, enhanced purity, and electrical resistivity

Brett B Lewis; Robert Winkler; Xiahan Sang; Pushpa R Pudasaini; Michael G Stanford; Harald Plank; Raymond R Unocic; Jason D Fowlkes; Philip D Rack

doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.83

3D Nanoprinting via laser-assisted electron beam induced deposition: growth kinetics, enhanced purity, and electrical resistivity

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2017 Apr 7:8:801-812. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.8.83. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Brett B Lewis¹, Robert Winkler², Xiahan Sang³, Pushpa R Pudasaini¹, Michael G Stanford¹, Harald Plank^{2

4}, Raymond R Unocic³, Jason D Fowlkes^{1

3}, Philip D Rack^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
² Graz Centre for Electron Microscopy, Steyrergasse 17, 8010 Graz, Austria.
³ Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37381, USA.
⁴ Institute of Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis, Graz University of Technology, Steyrergasse 17, 8010 Graz, Austria.

Abstract

We investigate the growth, purity, grain structure/morphology, and electrical resistivity of 3D platinum nanowires synthesized via electron beam induced deposition with and without an in situ pulsed laser assist process which photothermally couples to the growing Pt-C deposits. Notably, we demonstrate: 1) higher platinum concentration and a coalescence of the otherwise Pt-C nanogranular material, 2) a slight enhancement in the deposit resolution and 3) a 100-fold improvement in the conductivity of suspended nanowires grown with the in situ photothermal assist process, while retaining a high degree of shape fidelity.

Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; beam induced processing; direct-write; electron beam induced deposition; microscopy; nanofabrication; pulsed laser; purification; rapid prototyping.