Shape memory effect nanotools for nano-creation: examples of nanowire-based devices with charge density waves

Abstract

Nanotweezers based on the shape memory effect have been developed and tested. In combination with a commercial nanomanipulator, they allow 3D nanoscale operation controlled in a scanning electron microscope. Here we apply the tweezers for the fabrication of nanostructures based on whiskers of NbS3, a quasi one-dimensional compound with room-temperature charge density wave (CDW). The nanowhiskers were separated without damage from the growth batch, an entangled array, and safely transferred to a substrate with a preliminary deposited Au film. The contacts were fabricated with Pt sputtering on top of the whisker and the film. The high degree of synchronization of the sliding CDW under a RF field with a frequency up to 600 MHz confirms the high quality of the contacts and of the sample structure after the manipulations. The proposed technique paves the way to novel type micro- and nanostructures fabrication and their various applications.