Fabrication of a nanowire diluter using electrical fields

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  • Yang, Jin-Ho (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Ajou University) ;
  • Yoon, Hyeun-Joong (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology) ;
  • Yang, Eui-Hyeok (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology) ;
  • Yang, Sang-Sik (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Ajou University)
  • 양진호 (아주대학교 전자공학부) ;
  • 윤현중 (Stevens Institute of Technology 기계공학과) ;
  • 양의혁 (Stevens Institute of Technology 기계공학과) ;
  • 양상식 (아주대학교 전자공학부)
  • Published : 2008.07.16

Abstract

The control of the number and dimension of nanowires is essential for dielectrophoretic(DEP) nanoscale assembly process. However, it is difficult to control the number of nanowires assembled between the electrodes. We have developed a nanowire diluter device, which consists of a glass substrate with gold electrodes and a PDMS layer with microchannel. The diluter device is fabricated by the conventional and soft lithographies using a SU-8 mold. Nickel nanowires (30${\mu}m$-long) are fabricated by a template-directed electrodeposition process using nanoporous alumina templates. A solution containing nanowires is injected into an inlet whereby pulsed voltages are applied to 16 pairs of electrodes in this experiment. The nanowires are trapped or released depending on the pulsed electric field from inlet to outlet (the channel). Therefore, the number of nanowires can be decreased correspondingly if the fixed frequency at each electrode is decreased from electrode to electrode.

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