INFLUENCE OF BEAM ENERGY OF IONS ON PROPERTIES OF NICKEL NANOWIRES

Electrical conductivity and optical transmittance of nickel nanowire (Ni-NW) networks are reported in this work. The Ni-NWs were irradiated with 3.5, 3.8 and 4.11MeV proton (H+) ions at room temperature. The electrical conductivity of Ni-NW networks was observed to increase with the increase in beam energies of H+ ions. With the increase in ions beam energies, electrical conductivity increases and this may be attributed to a reduction in the wire-wire point contact resistance due to the irradiation-induced welding of NWs. Welding is probably initiated due to H+ ion-irradiation induced heating effect that also improved the crystalline quality of the NWs. After ion beam irradiation, localized heat is generated in the NWs due to ionization which was also verified by SRIM simulation. Optical transmittance is increased with increase in the energy of H+ ions. The Ni-NW networks subjected to an ion beam irradiation to observe corresponding changes in electrical conductivity and optical transparencies are promising for various nanotechnological applications, such as highly transparent and conducting electrodes.

Automated summary

This work reports the changes in electrical conductivity and optical transmittance of nickel nanowire networks induced by proton ion beam irradiation. The electrical conductivity of the networks increases with higher proton beam energies, likely due to a reduction in wire-wire point contact resistance. The irradiation also improves the crystalline quality of the nanowires and increases the optical transmittance.