Methods for directed irradiation synthesis with ion and thermal beams

A method for fabricating structures on a substrate, comprising:

• a) providing the substrate having a substrate surface;
• and
• b) providing a set of control parameters to an ion beam source and to a thermal source corresponding to a desired structure topology;
• c) using directed irradiation synthesis to form a plurality of structures comprising at least one of the group of nano structures and microstructures in a first surface area of the substrate by exposing the substrate surface to an ion beam from the ion beam source and to thermal particles from the thermal source, the ion beam having a first area of effect on the substrate surface, and the thermal particles having an second area of effect on the substrate surface, each of the first area of effect and the second area of effect including the first surface area;
• and
• wherein the set of control parameters includes a predetermined ratio of a flux of the ion beam to a flux of the thermal beam, the predetermined ratio configured to form self-organized structures of the desired structure topology.