Self-catalytic growth of silicon nanowires on stainless steel

Abstract

Silicon nanowires were grown on a stainless steel substrate using a vapor-liquid-solid mechanism in self-catalytic mode. The multi-component Fe-Cr-Ni-Mn-Si catalyst that was formed from the substrate leads the growth of single-crystal Si nanowires with lengths of several micrometers and diameters ranging from 100 to 150 nm. A systematic investigation of the processing parameters revealed that the hydrogen flow rate is critical to the growth of the nanowires. At a high flow rate that exceeds 1000 sccm, the substrate is embrittled by H-2, and liquid droplets, which lead the growth of nanowires by the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism, are formed on the substrate. Electrical transport measurements indicated that the nanowires grown with the multi-component catalyst have electrical properties comparable to those grown by a single-component Ti catalyst. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.