Patterned nanowire articles on a substrate and methods of making the same
View Patent ↗Nanowire articles and methods of making the same are disclosed. A conductive article includes a plurality of inter-contacting nanowire segments that define a plurality of conductive pathways along the article. The nanowire segments may be semiconducting nanowires, metallic nanowires, nanotubes, single walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, or nanowires entangled with nanotubes. The various segments may have different lengths and may include segments having a length shorter than the length of the article. A strapping material may be positioned to contact a portion of the plurality of nanowire segments. The strapping material may be patterned to create the shape of a frame with an opening that exposes an area of the nanowire fabric. Such a strapping layer may also be used for making electrical contact to the nanowire fabric especially for electrical stitching to lower the overall resistance of the fabric.
1. A method of making a conductive article on a substrate, comprising:
forming a nanowire fabric on the substrate;
defining the nanowire fabric to have a pattern; and
forming a strapping layer that contacts at least a longitudinally-extending portion of the nanowire fabric.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric is formed by growing the nanowire fabric on the substrate using a catalyst.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric is formed by spraying an aerosol having nanowires onto a surface of the substrate.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric is formed by applying a solution of suspended nanowires on the substrate.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the solution of suspended nanowires is applied by a spin-coating technique.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming an intermediate layer between the nanowire fabric and the strapping material.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the strapping layer is a metal layer and the intermediate layer is a semiconductor layer.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising annealing the metal layer and the intermediate layer to form a conducting composite layer.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the conducting composite layer is a metal silicide.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the strapping layer contacts the periphery of the nanowire fabric.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the nanowire fabric and wherein removing includes applying an etchant to the strapping layer.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the nanowire fabric and wherein removing includes lithographically patterning the strapping layer.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the nanowire fabric and wherein removing includes patterning the strapping layer in the shape of a frame with an opening that exposes an area of the nanowire fabric.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the defining further comprises applying an etchant to the nanowire fabric.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the defining further comprises lithographically patterning the nanowire fabric.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric includes semiconducting nanowires.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric includes metallic nanowires.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric includes nanotubes.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the nanotubes include single-walled carbon nanotubes.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the nanotubes include multi-walled carbon nanotubes.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire fabric includes nanowires entangled with nanotubes.
22. A method of making a conductive article on a substrate, comprising:
forming a nanowire fabric on the substrate;
defining the nanowire fabric to have a pattern; and
forming a strapping layer having a frame shape that vertically contacts the nanowire fabric and which has an area exposing a portion of the nanowire fabric.
23. A method of making a conductive article on a substrate, comprising:
forming a nanowire fabric on the substrate;
defining the nanowire fabric to have a pattern that corresponds to the conductive article;
forming a strapping layer that vertically contacts the nanowire fabric; and
removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the nanowire fabric.
24. A method of making a conductive article on a substrate, comprising:
forming on the substrate a conducting layer that includes at least two nanomaterials, each having a different composition;
immediately subsequent to forming, defining the conducting layer to have a pattern that corresponds to the conductive article; and
forming a metal layer that contacts at least a portion of the conducting layer.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the conducting layer is formed by growing the conducting layer on the substrate using a catalyst.
26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the conducting layer is formed by spraying an aerosol having nanoclusters onto a surface of the substrate.
27. The method of claim 24 , wherein the conducting layer is formed by applying a solution of suspended nanomaterials on the substrate.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the solution of suspended nanomaterials is applied by a spin-coating technique.
29. The method of claim 27 , wherein the solution is applied by dipping the substrate into the solution.
30. The method of claim 24 , further comprising forming an intermediate layer between the conducting layer and the metal layer.
31. The method of claim 30 , wherein the intermediate layer is a semiconductor layer.
32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising annealing the metal layer and the intermediate layer to form a conducting composite layer.
33. The method of claim 32 , wherein the conducting composite layer is a metal silicide.
34. The method of claim 24 , wherein the strapping layer contacts the periphery of the conducting layer.
35. The method of claim 24 , further comprising removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the conducting layer wherein removing includes applying an etchant to the strapping layer.
36. The method of claim 24 , further comprising removing a portion of the strapping layer to expose a portion of the conducting layer wherein removing includes patterning the strapping layer in the shape of a frame with an opening that exposes an area of the conducting layer.
37. The method of claim 24 , wherein the defining further comprises applying an etchant to the conducting layer.
38. The method of claim 24 , wherein the conducting layer includes semiconducting nanomaterials.
39. The method of claim 24 , wherein the conducting layer includes metallic nanomaterials.
40. A method of making a conductive article on a substrate, comprising:
forming a conducting layer that includes nanomaterials on the substrate;
immediately subsequent to forming, defining the conducting layer to have a pattern with two opposite ends of an extension that corresponds to the conductive article; and
forming a metal layer that directly contacts portions of the conducting layer at said opposite ends so that electrical stimulus may flow from a first to a second of said opposite ends, along the conducting layer.
41. The method of claim 40 , further comprising removing a portion of the metal layer to expose a portion of the conducting layer wherein removing includes lithographically patterning the metallic layer.
42. The method of claim 40 , wherein the defining further comprises lithographically patterning the conducting layer.