Ultrasonic cutting of individual silver nanowires by a linearly vibrating micro tool

In this report, we demonstrate an ultrasonic nanowire cutting method, which uses the linear vibration of the tip of a micro tool and the fixing capability of the water molecules between the NW and substrate. The nanowires with a diameter from 50 nm to 400 nm are cut by the needle with the vibration velocity amplitude from 18-220 mm/s at 96.9 kHz. The dependency of the minimum cutting velocity and lower limit of the optimum cutting velocity range on the NW diameter is experimentally clarified. The incision quality is compared with that caused by an elliptical vibration of the micro cutting tool.