title: Low-temperature synthesis of single crystalline Ag2S nanowires on silver substrates.
abstract: We report on the successful synthesis of silver sulfide (Ag(2)S) nanowires by a simple and mild gas-solid reaction approach. For the nanowire synthesis, a preoxidized silver substrate is exposed to an atmosphere of an O(2)/H(2)S mixture at room temperature or slightly above. The resulting Ag(2)S nanowires are phase pure with a monoclinic crystal structure and have diameters of a few tens of nanometers and lengths up to 100 mum. The influence of reaction conditions on the diameter, length, and morphology of the Ag(2)S nanowires has been studied by a number of structural and spectroscopic techniques. The nanowire growth mechanism on the Ag substrate has been discussed, which is likely characterized by continuous deposition at the tip. Additionally, we demonstrate thinning and cutting of individual Ag(2)S nanowires with electron beams and laser beams, which are potentially useful for nanowire manipulation and engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Institute of Nano Science and Technology, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yutao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiao-Yuan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shihe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang