Nanowire cutting by an ultrasonically vibrating micro tool

Cutting of a nanoscale workpiece is useful in nano testing and fabrication, and novel cutting methods with little gasification of cut nano samples and simple device structures are needed for practical applications. In this paper, an ultrasonic nanowire cutting strategy is demonstrated, in which the linear and elliptical vibration of the tip of a micro cutting tool and the adhesion force between a substrate and nanowire are employed to cut and fix the nanowire, respectively. With this strategy, cutting of individual silver nanowires with a diameter from 50 nm to 400 nm is implemented, in which the vibration velocity amplitude of the micro cutting tool's root is from 18 to 220 mm/s, and the working frequency is about 96.9 kHz and 45.2 kHz, respectively. The dependency of the minimum cutting velocity and optimum cutting velocity range's lower limit on the AgNW diameter is experimentally clarified. Also, the cutting principle is analyzed, which can well explain the incision morphology and cutting characteristics.