Fabrication of Cu-induced networks of linear nanostructures on different length scales

Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy revealed that the deposition Cu onto VSe₂ substrates in ultra-high vacuum leads to the self-organized formation of linear nanostructures, nanowires and nanotunnels, on the substrate surface. The nanowires and nanotunnels are approximately equi-axed and form networks with a mesh width much larger than their diameter. Surprisingly, systematic increase of the Cu coverage studied here does not simply increase the thickness of the nanowires and nanotunnels, but induces the formation of further, distinct networks with increased feature size and increased mesh width. At very high Cu coverages, eventually, we obtained a hierarchy of apparently independent nanowire and nanotunnel networks on different length scales. A model is presented for the micromechanism that leads to this complex arrangement of nanostructures.