Typically, more area is devoted to wires than to transistors in modern electronic systems. For most approaches to nanoelectronics, nanowires are needed, and nanowire fabrication is an important issue. Nanoscale wires are also needed to connect nanoscale elements with micro or macro objects.
We have developed a technique for building nanowires of arbitrary geometry on a planar surface. These wires may have a varying cross-section.
The figures below illustrate the process. These are 1000×1000 nm AFM images. The first shows 10 nm Au nanoparticles on an oxidized Si surface after we formed a line by nanomanipulation with an AFM, using our customary pushing protocols. The second image shows the result of immersing the line structure for a few minutes on a seeding solution containing hydroxylamine. Gold cations contained in the solution are reduced and deposit on the surface of the nanoparticles. The result is a set of grown particles that are physically connected to form a nanowire.
Reference: S. Meltzer, R.Resch, B.E. Koel, M. E. Thompson, A. Madhukar, A. A. G. Requicha and P. Will, “Fabrication of nanostructures by hydroxylamine seeding of gold nanoparticles“, Langmuir, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 1713-1718, March 6, 2001.
