Employing a novel approach for a controlled fabrication of 1D nanowires on suspended microstructures of arbitrary geometries using two direct-writing technologies*

Recent progresses in additive manufacturing have inspired new technologies, such as the direct laser writing technique based on two-photon polymerization (2PP), which complements and further enriches the nanofabrication tools portfolio. In this study, we combine 2PP and our mask-free scanning probe-assisted "direct-write patterning" method to allow for: a) the fabrication of micro-bridge structures with the sub-micrometer resolution, b) selective synthesis of crystalline ZnO nanowires at predefined locations, respectively. This synergistic approach enables cantilever probe patterning of catalysts directly on suspended micro-bridges for CVD growth of nanoscale material in a templated manner. This work represents the first proof-of-concept experiment demonstrating a versatile and scalable methodology. Our method is adaptable and simply scalable to grow a variety of other nanomaterials in a controlled and selective manner on size-independent micro/nanoscale structures. The possibility of integrating this new approach with conventional lithography techniques provides a step forward to developing a novel class of hybrid polymer-silicon-1D or -2D materials and systems. The quality of the ZnO nanowire assemblies was assessed using several physical characterization methods.