Dielectrophoretic manipulation of individual nickel nanowires for electrical transport measurements

Nanowires (NW) have received much attention due to their high aspect ratio, shape anisotropy, relatively large surface area and particular electron transport properties. In addition, since NW present low current levels and high sensitivity, they can be used as sensor devices for several applications. One of the major challenges when dealing with transport measurements in NW is to trap them between electrodes, which allow electrical characterization and therefore fabrication of nanowire-based devices. Electrically neutral NW can be deposited by dielectrophoresis (DEP) method, which requires the application of an alternating electric field between electrodes. In this work, properly dispersed Ni nanowires (NiNW) (length = 4 ± 1 μm, diameter = 35 ± 5 nm) were deposited on top of Pt electrodes using the DEP method. The effects of electrodes geometry and electric field frequency on DEP efficiency were evaluated. For optimized DEP parameters, the process efficiency is up to 85%. The deposited NiNW exhibit a Scho...