Aluminum-Catalyzed Growth of ‹110› Silicon Nanowires

The growth of silicon nanowires in the ‹110› direction is reported using a vapor–liquid–solid mechanism with aluminum as the catalyst and SiH4 as the source gas in a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process. The effects of growth conditions on the yield of ‹110› versus ‹111› nanowires were investigated. Increasing reactor pressure beyond 300 Torr was found to improve ‹110› wire yield by suppressing vapor–solid thin film deposition on the nanowire sidewalls during growth that promoted nanowire kinking. Additionally, ‹110› growth was found to occur only at temperatures below the Al-Si eutectic temperature (577°C). At temperatures approximately equal to 577°C or higher, the preferential growth direction was observed to shift from ‹110› to ‹111›. The growth of ‹110› Si nanowires at sub-eutectic temperatures was attributed to a reduction in the silicon concentration in the catalyst droplet which promotes (110) surface nucleation and subsequent growth in the ‹110› direction.