Tuning the Shape and Strain in Micro/Nanowires by a Sideways Physical Deposition Process

We studied the bending phenomenon of ZnO nanowires (NWs) by using three kinds of sideways physical deposition processes: laser deposition (PLD), sputtering, and evaporation. Room temperature PLD is the most efficient method to bend NWs. The bending is probably caused by the ion implantation into the surface layers. Temperature can influence the bending angle at low temperatures (below 120 °C). The shape-modified NWs may have applications in nanoelectronics, optics, and surface wettability tuning.