Controlling nanowire growth through electric field-induced deformation of the catalyst droplet

Controlling nanowire growth through electric field-induced deformation of the catalyst droplet

Semiconductor nanowires with precisely controlled structure, and hence well-defined electronic and optical properties, can be grown by self-assembly using the vapour-liquid-solid process. The structure and chemical composition of the growing nanowire is typically determined by global parameters such as source gas pressure, gas composition and growth temperature. Here we describe a more local ap...

Electric field-induced deformation of polydimethylsiloxane polymers

Controlling Nanowire Growth by Light.

Individual Au catalyst nanoparticles are used for selective laser-induced chemical vapor deposition of single germanium nanowires. Dark-field scattering reveals in real time the optical signatures of all key constituent growth processes. Growth is initially triggered by plasmonic absorption in the Au catalyst, while once nucleated the growing Ge nanowire supports magnetic and electric resonance...

Electric-field-induced deformation dynamics of a single nematic disclination.

Disclinations in nematic liquid crystals usually adopt a straight shape in order to minimize their elastic energy. Once created in the course of a nonequilibrium process such as a temperature quench from the isotropic to the nematic phase, the topologically stable disclinations of half-integer strength either annihilate each other in pairs of opposite strength or form topologically unstable dis...

Controlling the catalyst during carbon nanotube growth.

We have recently been able to grow single-walled carbon nanotubes by purely thermal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) at temperatures as low as 400 degrees C. This has been achieved by separating the catalyst pre-treatment step from the growth step. In the pre-treatment step, a thin film catalyst is re-arranged into a series of nano-droplets, which are then the active catalysts. Both steps have ...