Figure 1.

Fabrication and secondary/tertiary growth of nanostructures. The deposits can be fabricated by electron irradiation of a surface in the presence of a precursor (EBID) to form a thin primary deposit (a, top). In the absence of a precursor (a, bottom), some surfaces can undergo selective electron-beam induced surface activation (EBISA), also yielding a primary deposit upon post-exposure to the precursor. If the primary deposits are exposed to the precursor in a successive step, autocatalytic decomposition can lead to further secondary autocatalytic growth of the deposit (b). In the case that a second, different precursor is supplied, another autocatalytic growth process (tertiary growth) can occur, leading to the formation of a layered nanostructure (c). The icons in b) and c) will be used to indicate the respective process throughout this publication.