E-beam-induced in situ structural transformation in one-dimensional nanomaterials

Electron beam (e-beam) irradiation is an inevitable, but crucial issue for electron microscopy. Our investigation results show the e-beam-induced in situ structural transformations in silicon (Si) nanowires and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs), respectively. Crystal to amorphous structure transition was revealed in Si NWs utilizing high resolution electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Reconstruction at the (10 (1) over bar0) surface of ZnO NWs was also observed in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) using aberration-corrected electron microscopy. These e-beam-induced in situ structural transformations prove that the electron beam irradiation effect is able to be used for the local modification of one-dimensional nanomaterials.