High-yield self-limiting single-nanowire assembly with dielectrophoresis.
Single-crystal nanowire transistors and other nanowire-based devices could have applications in large-area and flexible electronics if conventional top-down fabrication techniques can be integrated with high-precision bottom-up nanowire assembly. Here, we extend dielectrophoretic nanowire assembly to achieve a 98.5% yield of single nanowires assembled over 16,000 patterned electrode sites with submicrometre alignment precision. The balancing of surface, hydrodynamic and dielectrophoretic forces makes the self-assembly process controllable, and a hydrodynamic force component makes it self-limiting. Our approach represents a methodology to quantify nanowire assembly, and makes single nanowire assembly possible over an area limited only by the ability to reproduce process conditions uniformly.
Nanosys, Inc., 2625 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA. efreer@nanosysinc.com
Erik M
EM
Freer
Oleg
O
Grachev
Xiangfeng
X
Duan
Samuel
S
Martin
David P
DP
Stumbo