Growth of magnetic nanowires along freely selectable $\langle $hkl$\rangle $ crystal directions

The production of nanowire materials, uniformly oriented along any arbitrarily chosen crystal orientation, is an important, yet unsolved, problem in material science. Here, we present a generalizable solution to this problem. The solution is based on the technique of glancing angle deposition combined with a rapid switching of the deposition direction between crystal symmetry positions. Using iron--cobalt as an example, we showcase the simplicity and capabilities of the process in one-step fabrications of $\langle $100$\rangle $, $\langle $110$\rangle $, $\langle $111$\rangle $, $\langle $210$\rangle $, $\langle $310$\rangle $, $\langle $320$\rangle $, and $\langle $321$\rangle $-oriented nanowires, three-dimensional nanowire spirals, core--shell heterostructures, and axial hybrids. Our results provide a new capability for tailoring the properties of nanowires, and should be generalizable to any material that can be grown as a single-crystal biaxial film.