Atomic Structure Analysis of ErSi₂ Nanowires Formed on Si(100) Substrates

Abstract

ErSi 2 nanowires were formed on Si(100) substrate by self-assembly. The wires were grown along the Si[011] and Si[0 1 11] directions. Samples perpendicular and parallel to the growth direction of the wires were cut using a focused ion beam system for cross-sectional investigation. It was revealed that single-crystal ErSi 2 nanowires had been formed. However, the crystal orientation between the wires was different. Samples grown at different temperatures were also investigated to analyze the growth mechanism of the ErSi 2 nanowires. The growth process from the initial state to form ErSi 2 nanowires is discussed.

A facile route to synthesise silica shell free silicide nanowires

“…The crystallographic analysis shows that the free-standing ErSi 2 and GdSi 2 NWs grew along the [001] direction, which is different from the vicinal ErSi 2 and GdSi 2 NWs that grew along the [110] direction due to the different growth mechanisms of these two kinds of NWs. 20,24 For the vicinally grown silicide NWs, the lattice mismatch is the driving force for 1-D growth, [19][20][21]24 while the intrinsic crystallography properties and the capping effect of ErSi 2 NWs were used as an example for the growth mechanism analysis and further electrical characterizations in this contribution and the details on GdSi 2 NWs are shown in the ESI. † To yield the insights into the mechanism behind the formation of these metal disilicide NWs, the factors that affect the chemical reactions taking place during the syntheses of silicide NWs were analyzed.…”

“…The growth of vicinal ErSi 2 NWs is due to the anisotropic lattice mismatch between the a and c axes of the ErSi 2 lattice with respect to {110} Si . 24 Such epitaxial growth makes it the priority to achieve a fresh silicon surface and that is the reason that UHV is essential in the previous reported method. It is evident that by simply using erbium powder as the only source material, no nanostructures were observed on the silicon surface in our experiment.…”