Low Resistivity Tin-Doped Copper Nanowires

This letter presents Sn-doped Cu nanowires, Cu(Sn) NWs, synthesized by chemical vapor deposition using Cu and SnCl
₂
powders as precursors at low temperature (≤ 400°C) and their electrical properties. The Sn not only plays a role as a catalyst to enhance reduction of Cu, but also as a dopant for Cu(Sn) NWs. The Sn thickness, substrate pretreatment, substrate temperature, process pressure, and precursor compositions are optimized to obtain high-density nanowires. Results show that Cu(Sn) NWs, 30 μm in length and 50-620 nm in diameter, are synthesized successfully at 350°C. The Cu(Sn) NWs exhibit low resistivity (2.84 μΩ-cm), which is the lowest value reported thus far, and a failure current density of 3.16×10
⁷
A/cm
²
.