Strategies for the AFM-based manipulation of silver nanowires on a flat surface.

Silver nanowires (Ag NWs) are a promising material for building various sensors and devices at the nanoscale. However, the fast and precise placement of individual Ag NWs is still a challenge today. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been widely used to manipulate nanoparticles, yet this technology encounters many difficulties when being applied to the movement of Ag NWs as well as other soft one-dimensional (1D) materials, since the samples are easily distorted or even broken due to friction and adhesion on the substrate.