Self assembled nano wires

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Forming engineered nanostructures is a major challenge in the field nanotechnology. There is a general agreement that such structures should be formed by self assembly, in contrast to controlled lithographic approach adopted in MEMS and micro electronics. In this project, we intend to form self assembled nano-wires, and investigate the underlying mechanics that govern the self assembly. We have shown experimentally that plasma deposited silicon di-oxide may crack when annealed due to residual stress. We successfully formed nano wires by simply depositing (electroless) Nickel in the cracks.Nickel bonds with the substrate and forms wires with lateral dimension of around 100nm. The length of the wires can be several micro meters. Thus a network of self-assembled nanowires is obtained. In this one-year project, we plan to study the parameters that govern the dimension of the wires in order to reduce their width to 20nm. The electrical and mechanical properties will also be investigated to explore any size effect due to confinement. The study may have a considerable impact on the field of nano-electronics, and will enhance fundamental understanding of the mechanical behavior of nano-wires and their transport properties.