Focused ion beam-assisted manipulation of single and double β-SiC nanowires and their thermal conductivity measurements by the four-point-probe 3-ω method

Control of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures is demonstrated in this paper by selectively placing and aligning silicon carbide (β-SiC) nanowires (NWs). We developed a reliable and highly reproducible way of placing a single or double SiC NW on pre-patterned electrodes by using a focused ion beam and a nanomanipulator. 3-ω signals obtained by the four-point-probe method were used in measuring the thermal conductivity of the NWs. The thermal conductivities of the placed single and double β-SiC NWs were obtained at 82 ± 6 W mK-1 and 73 ± 5 W mK-1, respectively. The proposed technique offers new possibilities for manipulating and evaluating 1D nanoscale materials.