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Published on: January 28, 2021
Nanowire transformation and annealing by Joule heating
Magnus Hummelgård1, Renyun Zhang, Torbjörn Carlberg
1Department of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden. magnus.hummelgard@miun.se
None:
Joule heating of bundles of Mo(6)S(3)I(6) nanowires, in real time, was studied using in situ TEM probing. TEM imaging, electron diffraction, and conductivity measurements showed a complete transformation of Mo(6)S(3)I(6) into Mo via thermal decomposition. The resulting Mo nanowires had a conductivity that was 2-3 orders higher than the starting material. The conductivity increased even further, up to 1.8 x 10(6) S m( - 1), when the Mo nanowires went through annealing phases. These results suggest that Joule heating might be a general way to transform or anneal nanowires, pointing to applications such as metal nanowire fabrication, novel memory elements based on material transformation, or in situ improvement of field emitters.
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