title: Electron-beam induced synthesis of nanostructures: a review.
abstract: As the success of nanostructures grows in modern society so does the importance of our ability to control their synthesis in precise manners, often with atomic precision as this can directly affect the final properties of the nanostructures. Hence it is crucial to have both deep insight, ideally with real-time temporal resolution, and precise control during the fabrication of nanomaterials. Transmission electron microscopy offers these attributes potentially providing atomic resolution with near real time temporal resolution. In addition, one can fabricate nanostructures in situ in a TEM. This can be achieved with the use of environmental electron microscopes and/or specialized specimen holders. A rather simpler and rapidly growing approach is to take advantage of the imaging electron beam as a tool for in situ reactions. This is possible because there is a wealth of electron specimen interactions, which, when implemented under controlled conditions, enable different approaches to fabricate nanostructures. Moreover, when using the electron beam to drive reactions no specialized specimen holders or peripheral equipment is required. This review is dedicated to explore the body of work available on electron-beam induced synthesis techniques with in situ capabilities. Particular emphasis is placed on the electron beam-induced synthesis of nanostructures conducted inside a TEM, viz. the e-beam is the sole (or primary) agent triggering and driving the synthesis process.
authors.affiliation: IFW Dresden, Institute for Complex Materials, P.O. Box, D-01171 Dresden, Germany and Institute of Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Martinez
authors.affiliation: IFW Dresden, Institute for Complex Materials, P.O. Box, D-01171 Dresden, Germany and Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Curie-Sklodowskiej 34, Zabrze 41-819, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bachmatiuk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bezugly
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany and Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kunstmann
authors.affiliation: IFW Dresden, Institute for Complex Materials, P.O. Box, D-01171 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gemming
authors.affiliation: Center for NanoChemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cuniberti
authors.affiliation: College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. mhr1@ifw-dresden.de and IFW Dresden, Institute for Complex Materials, P.O. Box, D-01171 Dresden, Germany and Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Curie-Sklodowskiej 34, Zabrze 41-819, Poland.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Rümmeli