Shaping of Au and Ge Nanoparticles by Irradiation with Swift Heavy Ions

The driving forces of nanomaterials processing by swift heavy ions as identified by our studies are (i) the materials dependent electronic stopping power, (ii) the volume change upon melting as well as (iii) far-from-equilibrium steady-state solubilities and strongly anisotropic diffusion coefficients. Size distributions, shapes and anisotropies of nanoparticles can be tailored by appropriate tuning of these driving forces. The evolution of Au and Ge nanospheres under swift heavy ion irradiation was studied experimentally and by atomistic computer simulations. Au nanospheres of 15 nm di-ameter elongate to rods, whereas Ge nanospheres become flat. Surprisingly, this shaping as well as the quantitative dependence on experimental conditions can be described completely with classical thermodynamics, which will be demonstrated by our atomistic computer simulation studies: For instance, the ratio (rod length)/(initial sphere diameter) increases with the square root of the ion fluence, and the speed of the elongation follows the law of Hagen-Poiseuille. Of special interest is the nanostructure evolution when en-ergy deposition into the nanoparticle suffice melting only for central tracks. This rare event for broad size distributions can be seen, e.g., in Phys.Rev. B78(2008)054102. Us-ing unimodal size distributions and changing the ion direction during irradiation, tailor-ing of very exotic nanoparticle shapes become feasible.