Processing and characterization of high-conductance bismuth wire array composites

We fabricated Bi nanowire array composites with wire diameters from 30 to 200 nm by high-pressure injection (HPI) of Bi melt into porous anodic alumina templates. The composites were dense, with Bi volume fraction in excess of 50%. The parallel Bi nanowires, whose length appeared to be limited only by the thickness of the host template (up to 55 mu m), terminated at both sides of the composite in the Bi bulk. The individual Bi nanowire crystal structure was rhombohedral, with the same lattice parameters as that of bulk Bi; the wires in the array were predominantly oriented with the trigonal axis along the wire length. Low contact resistance was achieved by bonding the composite to copper electrodes.