Anisotropic deformation of Au nanoparticles by highly charged ion Xe ²¹⁺ irradiation

We present a detailed study of the deformation of Au nanoparticles (NPs) caused by the irradiation of highly charged ions (HCIs). When spherical Au NPs with a diameter of 19.8 nm were irradiated by 1 MeV Xe²¹⁺ ions with a fluence of 2 × 10¹⁴ cm^-2, their anisotropic deformation was observed by atomic force microscopy. The results show that spherical Au NPs expand perpendicular to the ion beam changing their shape to oblate ellipsoidal. The size aspect ratio (major over minor axis) of the observed deformed Au NPs is about 1.23. The deformation process is described by a viscoelastic thermal spike model. The HCI beam deformation technique provides a unique method to tailor the shape of noble metal NPs.