Joule heat welding using dual-nanomanipulators inside scanning electron microscope: a method applied for manipulation and device fabrication of one-dimensional nanomaterials

The controllable manipulation of a single nanowire (NW) using dual-nanomanipulators attached to a scanning electron microscope (e.g. selectively removing a single NW from the NW-cluster to a desired substrate) is significant for device fabrication. This can only be achieved when the contact between the NW and tungsten tip equipped in the nanomanipulator is mechanically strong. Here, a Joule heat welding technique is developed to create strong contacts between the NWs (including metal and semiconductor NWs) and the tungsten tips, which can greatly improve the manipulation technology that presents great potential in device fabrication.