Deterministic shape control in plasma-aided nanotip assembly

The possibility of deterministic plasma-assisted reshaping of capped cylindrical seed nanotips by manipulating the plasma parameter-dependent sheath width is shown. Multiscale hybrid gas phase/solid surface numerical experiments reveal that under the wide-sheath conditions the nanotips widen at the base and when the sheath is narrow, they sharpen up. By combining the wide- and narrow-sheath stages in a single process, it turns out possible to synthesize wide- base nanotips with long-and narrow-apex spikes, ideal for electron microemitter applications. This plasma-based approach is generic and can be applied to a larger number of multipurpose nanoassemblies. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.