Gold nanowires from silicon nanowire templates

Abstract

We report a simple method for producing goldnanowires (AuNWs) by using siliconnanowires (SiNWs) as templates. Uniform AuNWs were formed in the core of SiNWs, when SiNWs coated with Au were furnaceannealed at ∼880 °C at 10⁻² Torr.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) examination showed the AuNWs had diameters of ∼10 nm. High-resolution TEM revealed lattice fringes with an interlayer spacing of 0.235 nm, which corresponds to the spacing in Au crystal, confirming the AuNWs are crystalline.