Abstract
In this study, Ni and Cu nanowire arrays and Ni/Cu superlattice nanowire arrays are fabricated using standard techniques such as electrochemical deposition of metals into porous anodic alumina oxide templates having pore diameters of about 50 nm. We perform optical measurements on these nanowire array structures. Optical reflectance (OR) of the as-prepared samples is recorded using an imaging spectrometer in the wavelength range from 400 to 2,000 nm (i.e., from visible to near-infrared bandwidth). The measurements are carried out at temperatures set to be 4.2, 70, 150, and 200 K and at room temperature. We find that the intensity of the OR spectrum for nanowire arrays depends strongly on the temperature. The strongest OR can be observed at about T = 200 K for all samples in visible regime. The OR spectra for these samples show different features in the visible and near-infrared bandwidths. We discuss the physical mechanisms responsible for these interesting experimental findings. This study is relevant to the application of metal nanowire arrays as optical and optoelectronic devices.
Highlights
In recent years, quasi one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured materials have received much attention attributed to their interesting physical properties in sharp contrast to the bulk ones and to the potential applications as electronic, magnetic, photonic, and optoelectronic devices [1,2,3,4]
The Optical reflectance (OR) spectra for Ni and Cu nanowire arrays and Ni/Cu superlattice nanowire arrays are shown in Figure 2 in visible bandwidth for different temperatures at 4.2, 70, 150, 200, and 297 K, respectively
The strongest OR for Cu nanowire arrays can be observed at about T = 200 K. These experimental findings suggest that 200 K is an appropriate temperature for the enhancement of optical reflection from Cu, Ni, and Ni/Cu superlattice nanowire array structures
Summary
Quasi one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured materials have received much attention attributed to their interesting physical properties in sharp contrast to the bulk ones and to the potential applications as electronic, magnetic, photonic, and optoelectronic devices [1,2,3,4]. Quantum confinement effects can be observed in the dimensionally reduced nanomaterial systems. Nanowires have been a major focus of research on nanoscaled materials which can be taken as a fundamental building block of nanotechnology and practical nanodevices. It should be noticed that metal nanowires have displayed unique optical and optoelectronic properties due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) which is a resonant oscillation of the conducting electrons within the metallic nanostructures.
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