Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 21, 2025
09:00
Evaluating Plasmonic Transport in Current-carrying Silver Nanowires
Published on: December 11, 2013
5.4K
Plasmon-driven nanowire actuators for on-chip manipulation
Shuangyi Linghu1, Zhaoqi Gu1, Jinsheng Lu2
1Laboratory of Integrated Opto-Mechanics and Electronics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Modern Optical System, Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System (Ministry of Education), University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 200093, Shanghai, China.
Nature Communications
|January 16, 2021
Summary
Chemically synthesized metal nanowires can now be precisely manipulated using a novel earthworm-like crawling motion. This breakthrough enables controlled positioning and sorting for advanced photonic integrated circuits.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology
- Photonics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Chemically synthesized metal nanowires are crucial for next-generation photonic integrated circuits.
- Precise manipulation of nanowires is a significant challenge due to strong substrate adhesion in non-liquid environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a controllable and precise manipulation approach for metal nanowires in non-liquid environments.
- To overcome the limitations of nanowire adhesion for monolithic integration in photonic circuits.
Main Methods:
- Demonstrated an earthworm-like peristaltic crawling motion mechanism for plasmon-driven metal nanowires.
- Utilized synergistic expansion, friction, and contraction driven by surface acoustic waves generated from evanescently excited surface plasmons.
- Achieved nanowire locomotion along silica microfibres.
Main Results:
- Achieved sub-nanometer positioning accuracy and low actuation power.
- Demonstrated self-parallel parking capabilities for nanowires.
- Successfully performed on-chip manipulations including transporting, positioning, orientation, and sorting with high selectivity and versatility.
Conclusions:
- The proposed crawling motion mechanism effectively removes the obstacle of nanowire adhesion.
- This method enables precise, on-situ manipulation of metal nanowires for photonic applications.
- Paves the way for full co-integration of functionalized photonic components on single chips.
