Nanowires 4 . Nanowires

This chapter provides an overview of recent research on inorganic nanowires, particularly metallic and semiconducting nanowires. Nanowires are one-dimensional, anisotropic structures, small in diameter, and large in surfaceto-volume ratio. Thus, their physical properties are different than those of structures of different scale and dimensionality. While the study of nanowires is particularly challenging, scientists have made immense progress in both developing synthetic methodologies for the fabrication of nanowires, and developing instrumentation for their characterization. The chapter is divided into three main sections: Sect. 4.1 the synthesis, Sect. 4.2 the characterization and physical properties, and Sect. 4.3 the applications of nanowires. Yet, the reader will discover many links that make these aspects of nanoscience intimately interdepent.