Planar nanowire arrays formed by atomic-terrace low-angle shadowing.
A relatively simple method for preparation of planar nanowire arrays on vicinal substrates by molecular beam epitaxy is presented. The atomic step-and-terrace morphology of vicinal substrates is used to produce a shadowing effect on a highly collimated molecular beam at an oblique incidence to the substrate. The collimation is achieved by placing the evaporation source at a large working distance (40-100 cm) from the substrate. The method's capabilities have been demonstrated by preparation of arrays of Ag and Au nanowires on vicinal Si(111) and alpha-Al2O3 (0001) substrates. Nanowires with a width of down to 10-15 nm and a thickness of 1.5 nm have been readily achieved.
Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices, School of Physics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
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Cuccureddu
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Usov
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Murphy
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Coileain
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Shvets