Aluminum Nanowires

 


Nagoya University in Japan has published a new technique for the construction of metal nanowires (NWs).  The wires are expected to be used in the next generations of electronics.  Prior to this research, production of pure metal NWs was difficult and limited their use. However, scientists suggest a way to produce these wires in a new study published in Science. 

Maintaining quality and purity is the biggest challenge facing large scale manufacture of NWs. They are made by transporting atoms, usually in the gas state. It is quite difficult to do this with metals, so production is slow.

Yasuhiro Kimura at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Engineering is leading a group that is creating the NWs. They use atomic diffusion in a solid phase state. It is enhanced by ion beam radiation. The team has created aluminum NWs from single crystals.

Atomic diffusion is described as a process by which atoms or molecules move from highly concentrated areas to low, through stress state change under heat. The crystal grains were irradiated using ion beams. This allowed for the aluminum film to coarsen them at the surface layer.  This changed the stress distribution and guided the atomic flow. It was used as a way to supply mass atomic feed for NWs to grow at specific locations.

In the laboratory, when heat is applied, the upward flow of atoms from the fine grains at the bottom to the course on top resulted in mass growth of NWs. 

Kimura reports, “We increased the density of aluminum NWs from (2 x10)5 NWs per square cm to (180 x10)5 per square cm. This achievement paves the way for bottom up metal NW growth methods, which have so far been grown only accidentally and in small quantities. It can also be extended to other metals in principle.” 

The created aluminum NW are going to be used in nanocomponents in sensing devices and optoelectronics. They are attractive because of their large surface area and resistance to oxidation. 

Kimura summarized, “We realized mass growth of forest-like metallic NWs using only three key processes: thin film deposition on a substrate, ion beam radiation and heating. Our technique solves the urgent need to establish mass production methods, especially in the production of high performance nanodevices such as gas sensors, biomarkers, and optoelectronic components.”

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