Engineered core-shell Si1-xGex/Ge nanowires fabricated by focused ion beam and oxido-reduction

We demonstrate that perfectly reproducible and homogeneous core-shell Si1-xGex/Ge nanowires can be produced by a two step nanofabrication process. The process makes use of a combination of Liquid Metal Alloy Ion Source-Focused Ion Beam (LMAIS-FIB) nanomilling and condensation. In a first step, we fabricate arrays of SiGe wires by LMAIS-FIB milling of fully relaxed Si1-xGex pseudo-substrates. The use of Ge2+ ions during this step avoids any metallic contamination of the nanowires. In a second step, we both reduce the diameter of the wires and form the core-shell configuration by oxido-reduction of the wires. Large arrays of core-shell nanowires with extended aspect ratio (length over diameter), small diameters and ultra-thin shell thickness are fabricated. Multilayer core-shell configurations with tunable arrangements could also be produced by repeated condensation cycles. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.