Nanowire Fabrication

The combination of etched ion-track membranes and electrodeposition allows us to synthesize nanowires with simultaneous and independent control of their dimension, geometry, morphology and crystallinity.

Poly- and single-crystalline nanowires, with diameter ranging between few nm and several micrometers, and aspect ratio (length over diameter) as high as 1000, are created by electrochemical deposition in etched ion track templates. The wires can remain in the membrane or can be transfered to another substrate after removal of the membrane. This technique has enabled the synthesis of nanowires of different materials such as copper, gold, nickel, bismuth, platinum, silver, alloys such as Bi_1-xSb_x and Bi₂Te₃, and heterostructures such as Co/Cu multilayers.

Recent Publications

1. Segmented All-Platinum Nanowires with Controlled Morphology through Manipulation of the Local Electrolyte Distribution in Fluidic Nanochannels during Electrodeposition M. Rauber, J. Brötz, J. Duan, J. Liu, S. Müller, R. Neumann, O. Picht, M.E. Toimil-Molares, W. Ensinger, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 114 (2010) 22502–22507

2. Electrochemical fabrication of single-crystalline and polycrystalline Au nanowires: The influence of deposition parameters, J. Liu, J.L. Duan, M.E. Toimil-Molares, S. Karim, T.W. Cornelius, D. Dobrev, H.J. Yao, Y.M. Sun, M.D> Hou, D. Mo, Z.G. Wang, R. Neumann, Nanotechnology 17 (2006) 1922-1926

3. Controlled fabrication of poly- and single-crystalline bismuth nanowires T.W. Cornelius, J. Brötz, N. Chtanko, D. Dobrev, G. Miehe, R. Neumann, M.E. Toimil-Molares, Nanotechnology 16 (2005) 246-249

4. Single-crystalline copper nanowires produced by electrochemical deposition in polymeric ion track membranes M.E. Toimil-Molares, V. Buschmann, D. Dobrev, R. Neumann, R. Scholz, I.U. Schuchert, J. Vetter, Adv. Mater. 13 (2001) 62-65.