Expanding 3D Nanoprinting Performance by Blurring the Electron Beam

Additive, direct-write manufacturing via a focused electron beam has evolved into areliable 3D nanoprinting technology in recent years. Aside from low demands on substratematerials and surface morphologies, this technology allows the fabrication of freestanding, 3Darchitectures with feature sizes down to the sub-20 nm range. While indispensably needed for someconcepts (e.g., 3D nano-plasmonics), the final applications can also be limited due to low mechanicalrigidity, and thermal- or electric conductivities. To optimize these properties, without changing theoverall 3D architecture, a controlled method for tuning individual branch diameters is desirable.Following this motivation, here, we introduce on-purpose beam blurring for controlled upwardscaling and study the behavior at different inclination angles. The study reveals a massive boost ingrowth efficiencies up to a factor of five and the strong delay of unwanted proximal growth. Indoing so, this work expands the design flexibility of this technology.