Ultrathin In2O3 nanowires with diameters below 4 nm: synthesis, reversible wettability switching behavior, and transparent thin-film transistor applications.

Ultrafine one-dimensional (1-D) semiconducting nanostructures with diameters below 10 nm are attracting great research attention. Using a laser-ablation chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, we reported the synthesis of single-crystal In(2)O(3) nanowires with diameter below 4 nm. The as-synthesized ultrathin In(2)O(3) nanowires act as the ultrathin branches of hierarchical In(2)O(3) nanostructures and show fast photoinduced switching surface wettability behaviors, and the contact angle decreased from 134.3 to 0° in 10 min. Transparent thin-film transistors (TTFTs) were fabricated using the as-synthesized product, and the device conductance was 1-2 orders higher than the average conductance of the In(2)O(3) single nanowire devices, revealing good opportunity in transparent electronics.