Effect of SHI on properties of template synthesized Cu nanowires

Metallic as well as semiconducting nanostructures have generated wide interest and are achieving growing importance because of their potential applications in various devices, such as batteries, manufacturing of electrical contacts in microelectronics, MEMS, and solar cells. In the present work, template synthesis method coupled with electrodeposition has been used to synthesize copper nanowires of diameter 200 nm into the pores of a polycarbonate track-etched (PCTE) membrane. The synthesized Cu nanowires were irradiated with 150-MeV Ti9+ swift heavy ions at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, India. The pristine and irradiated nanowires were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and Keithley 2400 series source meter to study their structural, morphological, elemental, and electrical properties, respectively. XRD analysis confirmed the face-centered cubic crystal system for pristine as well as irradiated samples. The lattice strain and crystallite size were evaluated using line broadening analysis methods following modified Scherrer method. Theoretical calculations have been done to obtain Young’s modulus of the nanowires and that has further been used to evaluate stress generated in the nanowires. Hall-Petch relation has been used to evaluate the change in strengthening coefficient in the nanowires due to irradiation. SEM analysis confirmed the cylindrical morphology of wires with a uniform diameter throughout the complete length of the wires. A change in electrical conductivity of the nanowires has been observed with increase in the fluence which is attributed to change in the orientation of grain boundaries and formation of defects.