Abstract
Nanowires are a well-established class of materials covering both metals and semiconductors. Although the synthesis of nanowires has been highly developed, their manipulation into specific device structures has lagged behind. Here we report a simple room temperature method for creating directly patterned structures out of nickel nanowires of submicron diameters as previously formed by electrotemplating. Specially shaped magnetic pole-pieces are used to form patterns of these ferromagnetic rods on thin flexible plastic foils, which were then fixed permanently into place either by electrodepositing an additional thin nickel coating or by a UV-curable polymer solution. It is shown that it is possible with oriented and patterned magnetic fields to create both vertically and, by using additional surface tension forces upon drying, horizontally aligned arrays of nickel rods. The authors show that linewidths down to 50 μm can easily be realized with this technique and also show that direct printing of these magnetophoretically assembled structures onto adhesive or rubber substrates is also possible. The simplicity and low-cost inherent in this lithography-free method suggests that it is suitable as a general manufacturing method for nanowire assembly. As an example, a simple field emission display device is demonstrated.
Disciplines
Bioelectrical and neuroengineering | Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering | Engineering | Engineering Science and Materials | Materials Science and Engineering | Nanoscience and Nanotechnology | Other Materials Science and Engineering
Recommended Citation
Wright, A & Faulkner, M. (2012) “Magnetophoretic assembly and printing of nanowires."Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol. 30 (2)
Digital Commons Citation
Wright, Andrew C. and Faulkner, Michael, "Magnetophoretic assembly and printing of nanowires" (2012). Advanced Materials Research Laboratory. Paper 14.
http://epubs.glyndwr.ac.uk/amrl/14
Supplementary Information - images
Included in
Bioelectrical and neuroengineering Commons, Engineering Science and Materials Commons, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons, Other Materials Science and Engineering Commons
Comments
Copyright © 2012 American Vacuum Society, American Institute of Physics.
This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.
This is the authors final version of the article. The following article appeared in Wright, A & Faulkner, M. (2012) “Magnetophoretic assembly and printing of nanowires." Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol.30(2) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.3683152