Fabrication of Carbon Nanowire Arrays Using Inhomogeneous Dissolution-Diffusion Kinetics and Photoresist Pyrolysis

We report a simple and efficient method to fabricate carbon nanowire (CNW) arrays with precise locations and spatial arrangements. This method is based on a phenomenon in photoresist (PR) development that if the exposed posts are close-spaced they are linked by some undissolved resist filaments. Pyrolysis made the residual resist filaments to shrink and form CNWs under an inert atmosphere. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that these nanowires had orderly arrangement and precise location. The formation of the CNWs was studied by simulation and experiment, which indicated the nanowire was influenced by the thickness of PR, the spacing distance between exposed posts, the diameter of posts and the developing time. We also investigated the composition and electrical properties of the resultant CNWs. The results showed that the CNW had characteristics of p type semiconductor.