Electrodeposition: Small 20/2009

The cover picture shows a TEM image of a copper nanowire with a high density of traverse twins spontaneously formed by electrodeposition from a pure CuSO4 electrolyte without the help of templates, surfactants, or additives. The twins are stacked perpendicular to the (111) plane of the wire with spacing of less than 1 nm. Micromechanical testing and electrical four-probe measurements demonstrate that the highly twinned nanowires show a remarkably high mechanical strength whilst maintaining a high electrical conductivity, which is of great interest for applications in microelectromechanical systems. For more information, please read the Communication “Nanoscale Twinned Copper Nanowire Formation by Direct Electrodeposition” by S. Zhong, Th. Schimmel, et al., beginning on page 2265.