Sputtering can be thought as an erosion of surface due to primary ions bombardment. In our experiments we have investigated effects of ion beam sputtering on shapes and sizes of nanowires initially produced with e-beam lithography. Nanowires have been sputtered with low energetic (1keV) Argon ion beam. For such a low energy ions can alter only very surface of the wire as ions' projected range in bombarded targets is at the level of 1nm. As a result ion beam sputtering provides powerful tool for gentle, layer-by-layer removal of the bombarded material. In parallel with experimental research we have developed theoretical description of evolution of nanowires under ion beam irradiation. We have shown that it is possible to reduce nanowires' cross-section in predictable and controllable way. Starting with different initial sectional profiles of the wires and using different sputtering angles it is also possible to control aspect ratio (height to width ratio) of wire's cross-sectional profiles. We have used described method to investigate the modification of superconducting transition (due to quantum phase slips) for the same wire with progressively reduced cross-section.

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1. Experimental evidence of quantum phase slip phenomena in ultra-narrow superconducting channels