Fabrication Process of Single CuO Nanowire Devices

Abstract

One-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires have been extensively investigated as a promising type of material for applications of nanoscale technology. The fabrication of single-nanowire devices are consequently important and interesting. This study introduced a feasible method for growing CuO nanowires on Cu foils. The nanowires had diameters of 10~150 nm and lengths of more than 7 μm and were grown by means of thermal oxidation in a vacuum. They were entirely and uniformly grown over the Cu foil surfaces and could be extracted and dispersed in an ethanol solution for further purposes. In addition, a simple fabrication method for realizing device functionality from a single CuO nanowire was reported. Fabricated devices were carefully checked by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The probability of the realization of a single-CuO-nanowire device relative to that of all other types was estimated to be around 25%. Finally, the I-V characteristics of the devices were analyzed.