High-Fidelity 3D-Nanoprinting via Focused Electron Beams: Computer-Aided Design (3BID)

Currently, there are few techniques that allow true 3D-printing on the nanoscale. The most promising candidate to fill this void is focused electron-beam-induced deposition (FEBID), a resist-free, nanofabrication compatible, direct-write method. The basic working principles of a computer-aided design (CAD) program (3BID) enabling 3D-FEBID is presented and simultaneously released for download. The 3BID capability significantly expands the currently limited toolbox for 3D-nanoprinting, providing access to geometries for optoelectronic, plasmonic, and nanomagnetic applications that were previously unattainable due to the lack of a suitable method for synthesis. The CAD approach supplants trial and error toward more precise/accurate FEBID required for real applications/device prototyping.J.D.F., R.W., P.D.R., A.F.P., and H.P. acknowledge that the creation of the CAD environment was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. R.W. and H.P. gratefully acknowledge the valuable support provided from Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Hofer. R.W. and H.P. also acknowledge financial support by the COST action CELINA (Nr. CM1301), EUROSTARS project TRIPLE-S (Nr. E! 8213), the bmvit exchange program, and FFG—Production of the Future project SENTINEL (Nr. 850652). L.S., D.S.H., and A.F.P. acknowledge funding from EPSRC, grant numbers EP/M008517/1 and EP/L015978/1, and from the Winton Program for the Physics of Sustainability