Polymorphous silicon nanowires synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Polymorphous Si nanowires (SiNWS) have been successfully synthesized on Si wafer by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 440°C, using silane as the Si source and Au as the catalyst. To grow the polymorphous SiNWS preannealing the Si substrate with Au film at 1100 °C is needed. The diameters of Si nanowires range from 15 to 100 nm. The structure, morphology and chemical composition of the SiNWS have been characterized by high resolution x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, as well as energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. A few interesting nanowires with Au nanoclusters uniformly distributed in the body of the wire were also produced by this technique.