Electrodeposited free-standing single-crystal indium nanowires

Abstract

Single-crystal indium nanowires were grown from arrays of holes 150-300 nm in diameter etched into a 300 nm dielectric by potentiostatic electrodeposition from stagnant InCl3-based solutions. The monocrystallinity of the nanowires was confirmed by electron backscattered diffraction measurements. For given experimental conditions, indium wires several micrometers in length grew out of the shallow templates without significant lateral overgrowth, resulting in high-aspect-ratio one-dimensional nanowires. This unusual observation is attributed to a perturbation of the local diffusion field by the neighboring holes or nanowires. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.