Mechanical polishing is shown to reduce interstitial deposition between silver nanowires patterned on a ferroelectric substrate. Recent technological advances require the control of particles down to the atomic scale. This field, called nanoscience, promises immediate engineering applicability in emerging technologies such as quantum computing, photovoltaics, and the detection and analysis of single molecules including rapid DNA sequencing. The hysteretic electric field of periodically poled ferroelectric lithium niobate (PPLN) exhibits an anomaly at the 180-degree domain boundary. Under ultraviolet excitation, net electronic drift at domain boundaries facilitates preferential photo reduction of silver, thereby creating nanowires. Metallic nanopatterned arrays created by this method lend themselves to applications as surface enhanced Raman substrates or conductors in miniaturized integrated circuits. However, imperfections and discontinuities on the PPLN surface cause interstitial silver growth. A mechanical polishing technique is presented to improve surface quality and thus eliminate the unwanted on-domain growth. Wires are characterized using scanning electron microscopy
