Chapter 4 - Fabrication and Structural Characterization of Ultrathin Nanoscale Wires and Particles

Abstract

This chapter discusses the fabrication and structural characterization of ultrathin nanoscale wires and particles. The tremendous interest in nanoscale structures such as quantum dots (0-dimension) and wires (quasi-one-dimension (1D)) stems from their size-dependent optical, electrical, and mechanical properties as well as potential applications in nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. In the physics of nanoscale 0D and 1D semiconductors, quantum effects are expected to play an increasingly prominent role. This chapter illustrates that quantum wires have shown interesting transport properties and may have applications in high-performance devices. This is because the current transport in a quantum wire is easily influenced by nearby charges, just like the gate in a field effect transistor. For sufficiently small width of the 1D nanostructure, this can be extended even down to the single-charge limit. Various methods have been used to realize 1D nanostructures by self-organized techniques. This chapter concludes by describing several novel methods for nanomaterial formation..