Highly ordered monocrystalline silver nanowire arrays

Highly ordered silver nanowire arrays have been obtained by pulsed electrodeposition in self-ordered porous alumina templates. Homogeneous filling of all the pores of the alumina template is achieved. The interwire distance is about 110 nm corresponding to a density of silver nanowires of 61x10(9) in.(-2) and the diameter can be varied between 30 and 70 nm. The silver wires are monocrystalline with some twin lamella defects and grow perpendicular to the <110> direction. The previously encountered difficulty to obtain 100% filling of the alumina pores is discussed in the framework of electrostatic instabilities taking into account the different potential contributions during electrodeposition. To obtain homogeneously filled pore membranes, a highly conductive metal containing electrolyte, a homogeneous aluminum oxide barrier layer, and pulsed electrodeposition are a prerequisite. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.