Local synthesis of silicon nanowires and carbon nanotubes on microbridges

Resistive heating of microline resistors was used to activate vapor-deposition synthesis of silicon nanowires and carbon nanotubes in a room-temperature chamber. The process is compatible with on-chip microelectronics and eliminates the necessity of postsynthesis assembly of nanostructures to form more complicated devices. The process is localized, selective, and scalable. The synthesized nanowire dimensions are 30-80 nm in diameter and up to 10 mum in length, while nanotubes 10-50 nm in diameter and up to 5 mum in length have been demonstrated. Growth rates of up to 1 mum/min for silicon nanowires and up to 0.25 mum/min for carbon nanotubes were observed. This method facilitates the integration of nanotechnology with larger-scale systems. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.