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Copper Nanowires through Oriented Mesoporous Silica: A Step towards Protected and Parallel Atomic Switches
Yong Ai1, Hassiba Smida1, Jalal Ghilane2
1Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ITODYS, UMR 7086 CNRS, 15 rue Jean-Antoine de Baïf, F-75205, Paris, Cedex 13, France.
Scientific Reports
|December 21, 2017
Summary
Researchers explored copper atomic contacts, finding that mesoporous silica films protect these contacts, enabling stable atomic switches. This breakthrough enhances future electronic device stability.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Atomic contacts are crucial for nanoscale electronics.
- Fabricating stable atomic contacts, especially with copper, presents significant challenges.
- Understanding contact formation mechanisms is key to improving device reliability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the formation of copper atomic contacts using electrochemical deposition.
- To evaluate the stability and properties of copper atomic contacts on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates.
- To explore the use of mesoporous silica films for protecting copper atomic contacts and enabling atomic switch behavior.
Main Methods:
- Electrochemical deposition of copper nanowires from a platinum microelectrode to an ITO substrate in a scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) configuration.
- Fabrication of atomic contacts on bare ITO and ITO electrodes coated with vertically-aligned mesoporous silica films.
- Characterization using histogram analysis of conductance and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM).
- Testing contact stability in sodium salicylate and evaluating atomic switch behavior.
Main Results:
- Copper atomic contacts with conductance close to or less than 1 G0 were formed.
- Copper filaments were observed to occupy individual nanopores in mesoporous silica films.
- Contacts on bare ITO degraded rapidly in sodium salicylate, while those on ITO/nanopores remained unaffected.
- Stable atomic switch behavior was achieved using both ITO and ITO/nanopore electrodes.
Conclusions:
- Mesoporous silica films effectively protect copper atomic contacts from degradation.
- The nanoporous structure isolates copper filaments, enhancing contact stability.
- The developed method enables the reliable fabrication of copper atomic contacts for potential applications in atomic switches.
