Schematic showing the movement of molten barium-rich nanoparticles to the surface of an yttrium- and copper-rich matrix. The transmission electron microscope image confirms that this leads to outgrowth of yttrium barium copper oxide nanowires via the microcrucible mechanism. A mechanism of growth of anisotropic metal oxides that was predicted 20 years ago has been observed for the first time by researchers at the University of Bristol. The work is described in an article published this week in Science. The fabrication of nanowires of ternary and quaternary functional materials has become an important goal for their application in miniaturized circuits as diodes and transistors, coaxial gates and sensors. The growth mechanisms are complex however and invariably proceed via a vapour-liquid-solid process which results in nanowires with a tapering morphology. A nanowire that tapers is undesirable for applications, as functionality would vary along the length, and perhaps even vanish, once a critical size was reached. Dr Simon Hall and Rebecca Boston in the School of Chemistry, along with colleagues in the University of Birmingham and the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan have successfully grown nanowires of a phase of the superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide that have a constant cross-sectional area. In doing
The post New nanowire growth mechanism observed has been published on Technology Org.
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