Fig. 2
The experimental setup and the process of making an aluminum nanowire by drawing from an Al hot solid substrate. a The front end of the TEM sample holder is mounted with a miniature resistive heater, opposite to which is a cold movable tip. b–d After heating the aluminum substrate to 400 °C, the cold W tip was brought to contact with the hot substrate. Upon pulling, an aluminum nanowire grows out between the tip and substrate. The profile of the substrate near the contact point is depicted with the dashed white line and superimposed to (c) and (d), indicating that the mass was sucked up to build the nanowire. e When a slim neck-shaped ligament formed between the nanowire and substrate, uniform growth of the nanowire was observed to ensue. The characteristic diameter of the neck and the nanowire is measured to be 7 and 40 nm, respectively. f, g With the pulling tip ascending, the nanowire grew longer to 620 nm, until the lateral tip shift bent the nanowire to breakup. The inset sketch compares the nanowire profile before and after relaxation. Scale bars in (b–g) represent 200 nm
