Nanostructure fabrication on copper surfaces

Self-assembled nanostructures can be formed on Cu(1 0 0), Cu(1 1 0) and Cu(1 1 1) surfaces by bombarding these surfaces with quantities of activated nitrogen followed by annealing. Coupled with epitaxial deposition, these surfaces can be used to create arrays of metallic nanostructures. On Cu(1 1 1) surfaces, N deposition can result in the mass production of quantum confinement structures. The use of scanning tunneling microscopy to selectively modify these nanostructures is also demonstrated.