The growth of complex nanostructures: Synergism of dipolar force and stacking-defects in anisotropic self-assembly

Nanocrystalline gold dendrimers with multiple generations of branching are produced by the fusion of gold nanoparticles along {111} planes induced by dipolar forces generated upon plasmon excitation. Branching in these structures originates from the imperfect fusion of gold nanoparticles onto growing gold structures due to the introduction of stacking faults, as schematically illustrated in the figure.