Controlled directional growth of silver microwires on a solid electrolyte surface

A silver microwire was formed on a silver sulfide surface in a directional and reversible manner. This wire formed upon applying an electric field between a tip-less atomic force microscopy probe placed on the Ag₂ S surface and a grounded silver electrode embedded in the surface. The process was studied in real-time with optical microscope and a discussion was provided on how the morphological instability was violated. A numerical model based on the mixed ionic-electronic transport was developed to study the observation and a good match of growth rates was found. The fast metal wire growth phenomenon observed here has potential in applications for electronics as well as plasmonic sensors and waveguides.