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Bottom-up assembly of large-area nanowire resonator arrays

Nature Nanotechnology volume 3, pages 88–92 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Directed-assembly of nanowire-based devices1 will enable the development of integrated circuits with new functions that extend well beyond mainstream digital logic. For example, nanoelectromechanical resonators are very attractive for chip-based sensor arrays2 because of their potential for ultrasensitive mass detection3,4,5,6. In this letter, we introduce a new bottom-up assembly method to fabricate large-area nanoelectromechanical arrays each having over 2,000 single-nanowire resonators. The nanowires are synthesized and chemically functionalized before they are integrated onto a silicon chip at predetermined locations. Peptide nucleic acid probe molecules attached to the nanowires before assembly maintain their binding selectivity and recognize complementary oligonucleotide targets once the resonator array is assembled. The two types of cantilevered resonators we integrated here using silicon and rhodium nanowires had Q-factors of ∼4,500 and ∼1,150, respectively, in vacuum. Taken together, these results show that bottom-up nanowire assembly can offer a practical alternative to top-down fabrication for sensitive chip-based detection.

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Figure 1: Bottom-up integration scheme used to fabricate NW resonator arrays.
Figure 2: Fabricated Si- and RhNW resonator arrays and selective binding of oligonucleotide targets.
Figure 3: Resonant response at room temperature and high vacuum (5 × 10−10 atm) using an electrical drive method.
Figure 4: Pressure-dependence of NW resonator spectra.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge primary support from the National Institutes of Health (CA118591). Additional support was provided by the National Science Foundation (DMR-0213623, CHE-0304575, CCR-0303976), and Tobacco Settlement funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which specifically disclaims responsibility for any analyses, interpretations, or conclusions. C.D.K. received partial support from the National Institutes of Health (R01 EB00268). The authors also acknowledge use of facilities at the Penn State University site of the National Science Foundation National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network.

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Author notes

  1. Kok-Keong Lew

    Present address: Present address: Power Electronics Branch, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC 22375, USA,

  2. Mingwei Li and Rustom B. Bhiladvala: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Mingwei Li, Rustom B. Bhiladvala & Theresa S. Mayer

  2. Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Rustom B. Bhiladvala & Theresa S. Mayer

  3. Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Thomas J. Morrow, James A. Sioss & Christine D. Keating

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Kok-Keong Lew & Joan M. Redwing

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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rustom B. Bhiladvala or Theresa S. Mayer.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary figures S1-S5 and supplementary table S1 (PDF 303 kb)

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Li, M., Bhiladvala, R., Morrow, T. et al. Bottom-up assembly of large-area nanowire resonator arrays. Nature Nanotech 3, 88–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.26

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