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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Flow-assisted Dielectrophoresis: A Low Cost Method for the Fabrication of High Performance Solution-processable Nanowire Devices
Published on: December 7, 2017
Low voltage nanoelectromechanical switches based on silicon carbide nanowires
X L Feng1, M H Matheny, C A Zorman
1Kavli Nanoscience Institute, Mail Code 114-36, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Abstract:
We report experimental demonstrations of electrostatically actuated, contact-mode nanoelectromechanical switches based on very thin silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs). These NWs are lithographically patterned from a 50 nm thick SiC layer heteroepitaxially grown on single-crystal silicon (Si). Several generic designs of in-plane electrostatic SiC NW switches have been realized, with NW widths as small as approximately 20 nm and lateral switching gaps as narrow as approximately 10 nm. Very low switch-on voltages are obtained, from a few volts down to approximately 1 V level. Two-terminal, contact-mode "hot" switching with high on/off ratios (>10(2) or 10(3)) has been demonstrated repeatedly for many devices. We find enhanced switching performance in bare SiC NWs, with lifetimes exceeding those based on metallized SiC NWs.
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