Synthesis and structural characterization of single-crystalline branched nanowire heterostructures.

We report the synthesis of three-dimensional single-crystalline branched nanowire heterostructures, where the backbones and branches are assembled with ZnS and CdS, respectively. Growth of branch and backbones with control over the compositions was enabled via sequential seeding of gold nanocluster catalysts. Elemental mapping data confirmed that branched nanowire heterostructures were synthesized with the intended chemical modulation, CdS branches on ZnS backbones. Transmission electron microscopy studies showed that the growth of heterostructure branches occurs epitaxially from the backbone while maintaining single-crystalline structure. This unique class of heterostructures holds great potential in assembling electronics and photonics in three dimensions.