title: Copper nanowires as nanoscale interconnects: their stability, electrical transport, and mechanical properties.
abstract: Application of copper nanowires (Cu NWs) for interconnects in future nanodevices must meet the following needs: environmental stability and superior electrical transport properties. Here, we demonstrate a kind of Cu NW that possesses the both properties. The Cu NWs were synthesized through a hydrothermal route with the reduction of copper chloride using octadecylamine (ODA). The reasons for their environmental stability could be due to interaction of ODA(+) molecules with the surface of Cu NWs and forming strong N-Cu chemical bonds. Electrical transport properties of individual Cu NW were investigated by using the four-probe measurement, showing the temperature-dependent resistance of the Cu NW was fairly linear in the temperature range from 25 to 300 K and the Cu NW retained the low resistivity of approximately 3.5 × 10(-6) Ω · cm at room temperature, near the resistivity value of bulk copper. The maximum transport current density for the Cu NW should be superior to 1.06 × 10(7) A · cm(-2). In addition, the Cu NWs have ultralow junction resistance. The present study indicates that the Cu NWs could act as a multifunctional building blocks for interconnects in future nanoscale devices.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Biomimetic Functional Matreials and Sensing Devices, Institute of Intelligent Machines, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, Anhui 230031, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jinhuai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xing-Jiu
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: Cu NWs; electrical transport properties; environmental stability; interconnects; mechanical properties; nanoscale devices