Melting and recrystallizing behaviors of Bi nanowires in the pores of anodic aluminum oxide template by Joule heating

•Bi nanowires are melted by applied voltage according to Joule heating effect.•The recrystallizing behaviors of Bi nanowires are investigated in pores of AAO.•Bi nanowires become the smaller nanoparticles after multiple recrystallization.•Bi atom aggregations in the melting state affect the recrystallization process.

Melting and recrystallizing behaviors of Bi nanowires are investigated using the pore confinement of anodic aluminum oxide template. According to Joule heating effect, Bi nanowires are melted by different applied voltages for long time. In the melting and recrystallizing process of Bi nanowires, the electronic properties are measured to analyze these behaviors. The results of transmission electron microscope indicate that Bi nanowires become some irregular nanoparticles after the first melting and recrystallizing process. With the increase of melting times, Bi nanoparticles become smaller. Meanwhile, under the same heating voltage, the resistance of the melting Bi nanowires increases slightly after each time of melt and recrystallization. Bi atom aggregations in the melting state have effect on the process of melt and recrystallization. These results provide the fundamental and valuable information for further researching the melting and recrystallizing behaviors of the low-melting-point metallic nanostructures under the effect of pore confinement.

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