Controlled crystallinity and crystallographic orientation of Cu nanowires fabricated in ion-track templates

The hallmark of materials science is the ability to tailor the structures of a given material to provide a desired response. In this work, the structures involving crystallinity and crystallographic orientation of Cu nanowires electrochemically fabricated in ion-track templates have been investigated as a function of fabrication condition. Both single crystalline and polycrystalline nanowires were obtained by adjusting applied voltages and temperatures of electrochemical deposition. The anti-Hall-Petch effect was experimentally evidenced in the polycrystalline nanowires. The dominant crystallographic orientations of wires along [111], [100], or [110] directions were obtained by selecting electrochemical deposition conditions, i.e., H2SO4 concentration in electrolyte, applied voltage, and electrodeposition temperature.