Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Low temperature solid-state wetting and formation of nanowelds in silver nanowires.

Nanotechnology 2017 September 21
This article focuses on the microscopic mechanism of thermally induced nanoweld formation between silver nanowires (AgNWs) which is a key process for improving electrical conductivity in NW networks employed for transparent electrodes. Focused ion beam sectioning and transmission electron microscopy were applied in order to elucidate the atomic structure of a welded NW including measurement of the wetting contact angle and characterization of defect structure with atomic accuracy, which provides fundamental information on the welding mechanism. Crystal lattice strain, obtained by direct evaluation of atomic column displacements in high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy images, was shown to be non-uniform among the five twin segments of the AgNW pentagonal structure. It was found that the pentagonal cross-sectional morphology of AgNWs has a dominant effect on the formation of nanowelds by controlling initial wetting as well as diffusion of Ag atoms between the NWs. Due to complete solid-state wetting, at an angle of ∼4.8°, the welding process starts with homoepitaxial nucleation of an initial Ag layer on (100) surface facets, considered to have an infinitely large radius of curvature. However, the strong driving force for this process due to the Gibbs-Thomson effect, requires the NW contact to occur through the corner of the pentagonal cross-section of the second NW providing a small radius of curvature. After the initial layer is formed, the welded zone continues to grow and extends out epitaxially to the neighboring twin segments.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app