Title: Structural characterisation of textured gold nanowires

Authors: Florian Maurer; Joachim Brotz; Gerhard Miehe; Shafqat Karim; Hartmut Fuess

Addresses: Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Petersenstrasse 23, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany. ' Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Petersenstrasse 23, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany. ' Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Petersenstrasse 23, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany. ' Physics Division, PINSTECH, Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan. ' Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Petersenstrasse 23, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany

Abstract: Gold nanowire ensembles of high aspect ratio were grown by electrodeposition into nanoporous polymeric templates. Under dc electrodeposition conditions a strong <110> texture of the nanowires was observed, whereas under ac deposition conditions a preferred growth direction in <100> was found. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations confirm the broken bond model describing the different textures of nanowires. The dc electrodeposition leads to large oriented grains, resulting in a strong <110> texture over the whole nanowire while ac electrodeposition leads to small grains of random orientation at the beginning of the growing process. The <100> texture starts to develop at higher aspect ratios which are confirmed by TEM and X-ray line profile analysis.

Keywords: gold nanowires; texture; membranes; TEM; XRD; profile analysis; broken bond modelling; nanotechnology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2011.044430

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2011 Vol.8 No.10/11/12, pp.855 - 867

Published online: 24 Dec 2011 *

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