Abstract:
An MeV ion beam penetrating an amorphous material causes rapid heating of a cylindrically shaped region around the ion track, which leads to anisotropic deformation: the irradiated material shrinks in the direction of the ion beam and expands perpendicular to it. This provides a unique way to tailor the shape of colloidal materials. Two-dimensional colloidal crystals show complex deformation behavior, providing unique masks for nanolithography.