Template-Free Growth of High-Temperature Superconductor Nanowires

As devices become ever smaller and more efficient, the crystallochemically controlled synthesis of high-performance materials that comprise their core has attracted enormous attention. Integration of complex functional materials into the next generation of electronic devices will require exquisite control of anisotropic form, either as nanotubes, nanotapes, or nanowires, yet the easy preparation of abundant quantities of them remains stubbornly challenging. Herein, a template-free, flux-mediated growth of vast quantities of three compositions of phase-pure, high-temperature superconductor nanowires, including for the first time, nanowires of the technologically important quinternary superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (B2212) is demonstrated. The results of this work may provide an opportunity to investigate the physics and chemistry of highly anisotropic superconductor nanowires and enable their incorporation into nanoelectronics and energy generation systems.