Self-Assembly of Multiple Stacked Nanorings by Vertically Correlated Droplet Epitaxy

Fabrication of advanced artificial nanomaterials is a long-term pursuit to fulfill the promises of nanomaterials. In the last ten years, Droplet Epitaxy has been emerging as a versatile fabrication method for various complex nanomaterials, but there is a lack of growth protocol to control the growth vertically. Here we report a vertically correlated Droplet Epitaxy growth method. We find that the nanodroplets form preferable on the preexisting nanorings, which enables fabrication of vertically aligned nanostructures by Droplet Epitaxy. Nucleation thermodynamics and growth kinetics have been proposed to explain the vertically correlated Droplet Epitaxy. Heterojunctions can be realized at nanoscale by the presented method. In addition, the nucleation thermodynamics of nanodroplets observed in this article will allow site-controlled fabrication of nanostructures.