Fabrication of large-area single crystal bismuth nanowire arrays

Bi nanowire arrays have been successfully synthesized using potentiostatic electrochemical deposition into the channels of an anodic alumina membrane (AAM). The morphology and structure of Bi nanowires have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results demonstrate that Bi nanowire arrays are compact, high filling rate and have a large area. The individual single crystal Bi nanowires are dense and continuous with uniform diameters (∼60 nm) throughout the entire length. The optimum synthesis conditions of Bi single crystal nanowire arrays were also discussed.