Force microscopy has been used to machine nanocrystals of and manipulate the resulting objects into new nanostructures. nanocrystals were grown on the surfaces of single crystals by controlled thermal oxidation. These nanocrystals may be moved and modified with a force microscope by controlling the applied load. The atomic structure of the nanocrystal-substrate interface is shown to constrain the motion of the nanocrystals to the lattice rows of the substrate, a phenomenon termed lattice-directed sliding. In addition, scanning in a direction off this preferred sliding direction can be used to machine the thus making it possible to selectively move and modify these nanocrystals. Significantly, our ability to machine and manipulate the nanocrystals has been exploited to fabricate interlocking nanostructures that can be reversibly assembled and disassembled.
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