Diameter-Dependent Growth Direction of Epitaxial Silicon Nanowires
Top Cited Papers
- 8 April 2005
- journal article
- letter
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Nano Letters
- Vol. 5 (5) , 931-935
- https://doi.org/10.1021/nl050462g
Abstract
We found that silicon nanowires grown epitaxially on Si (100) via the vapor−liquid−solid growth mechanism change their growth direction from 〈111〉 to 〈110〉 at a crossover diameter of approximately 20 nm. A model is proposed for the explanation of this phenomenon. We suggest that the interplay of the liquid−solid interfacial energy with the silicon surface energy expressed in terms of an edge tension is responsible for the change of the growth direction. The value of the edge tension is estimated by the product of the interfacial thickness with the surface energy of silicon. For large diameters, the direction with the lowest interfacial energy is dominant, whereas for small diameters the surface energy of the silicon nanowire determines the preferential growth direction.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- MEAM molecular dynamics study of a gold thin film on a silicon substrateSurface Science, 2004
- Controlled Growth and Structures of Molecular-Scale Silicon NanowiresNano Letters, 2004
- Direct synthesis of single-crystalline silicon nanowires using molten gallium and silane plasmaNanotechnology, 2003
- Anisotropy analysis of the surface energy of diamond cubic crystalsSurface and Interface Analysis, 2003
- Wetting of Si surfaces by Au–Si liquid alloysJournal of Applied Physics, 2003
- Small-Diameter Silicon Nanowire SurfacesScience, 2003
- Line tension between fluid phases and a substratePhysical Review E, 1998
- Fundamental aspects of VLS growthJournal of Crystal Growth, 1975
- Morphology of silicon whiskers grown by the VLS-techniqueJournal of Crystal Growth, 1971
- Surface Energy of Germanium and SiliconJournal of the Electrochemical Society, 1963