Role of a‐Si:H in lateral growth of crystalline silicon nanowires using Pb and In catalysts

Kočka, J.; Müller, Martin; Stuchlı́k, J.; Stuchlı́ková, H.; Červenka, Jiří; Fejfar, A.

doi:10.1002/pssa.201532923

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The experimental observations of metal-catalyzed SiNWs under plasma in this and previous studies [1,10,16,20,21] have shown that the nanowire growth is a highly complex process where many competing mechanisms play a role and are mutually interlinked. The growth of SiNWs in PECVD is governed by both catalytic and non-catalytic processes.…”

Section: Growth Mechanism Of Metal-catalyzed Nanowires Under the Plasmamentioning

confidence: 52%

“…As can be seen, the number of catalytically active nanoparticles is very low compared to the total number of the deposited Sn nanoparticles, typically around 3%. Even lower nucleation density of SiNWs in PECVD has been found for other catalytic metals, such as Au, In, Pb and Ga [16,17].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In experiments, however, it is often difficult to discriminate which of these growth mechanisms prevails because some of them can coexist. Recently we have demonstrated that both VLS and SLS mechanisms take place in the growth of Pb-catalyzed SiNWs, resulting in the coexistence of in-plane and out-of-plane growth modes depending on the phase and hydrogen content of the source material [16]. Moreover, it has been shown in a study of solid-solid transitions in colloidal microsphere crystals that the liquidsolid and solid-solid mechanisms can have a similar pathway because solid-solid transitions involve two-step diffusive nucleation pathway involving a liquid nuclei [34].…”

Section: Growth Mechanism Of Metal-catalyzed Nanowires Under the Plasmamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a method that satisfies most of these requirements. It can produce crystalline nanowires and heterojunctions with nanometer diameters and miscellaneous shapes, structure and doping [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The advantage of PECVD compared to other methods is the ability to lower the energy costs involved in the preparation of crystalline nanowires by efficiently dissociating precursors and enhancing nanowire growth by plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This poses a significant limitation for many potential applications, where nanowire growth in predefined places is required. Despite notable progress in the synthesis and assembly of silicon nanowires [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], understanding of the nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed nanowires under plasma is still very limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires under plasma

et al. 2020

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We report the results of a microscopic study of the nucleation and early growth stages of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nucleation of silicon nanowires is investigated as a function of different deposition conditions and metal catalysts (Sn, In and Au) using correlation of atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This correlation method enabled us to visualize individual catalytic nanoparticles before and after the nanowire growth and identify the key parameters influencing the nanowire nucleation under plasma. The size and position of catalytic nanoparticles are found to play a significant role in the nucleation. We demonstrate that only small isolated nanoparticles in the range of 10–20 nm contribute to the nanowire growth under plasma, while larger nanoparticles are inactive because they get buried under a layer of a-Si:H before reaching supersaturation. Systematic analysis of different growth parameters reveals that the nanowire growth in plasma contradicts the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism at thermal equilibrium in many ways. The nanowire growth is much faster and proceeds even at negligible silicon solubility and bellow the eutectic temperature of the metal-silicon alloy. Based on the observations, we propose the nanowire growth under plasma to be characterized by the rapid solidification mechanism, where a crystalline silicon phase emerges from a metastable supersaturated liquid metal-silicon phase in local nonequilibrium.

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Section: Growth Mechanism Of Metal-catalyzed Nanowires Under the Plasmamentioning

confidence: 52%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Growth Mechanism Of Metal-catalyzed Nanowires Under the Plasmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires under plasma

et al. 2020

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Comparative study of catalyst-induced doping and metal incorporation in silicon nanowires

Šilhavík

Müller

Stuchlı́k

et al. 2019

Applied Physics Letters

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Foreign atoms incorporated into the crystal structure of a semiconductor have profound effects on the electronic structure and charge transport in the material, particularly in nanoscale systems. Here, we demonstrate that catalyst-induced doping of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) can be used as an effective way for controlling dopant density and electrical conductivity in SiNWs, allowing the construction of p-n junctions. We investigate and compare metal incorporation and charge transport in SiNWs grown by six different metal catalysts (In, Sn, Bi, Ga, Pb, and Au) in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The distribution of the catalytic metals within SiNWs was mapped by scanning transmission electron microscopy using high-angle annular dark-field imaging. The metals are either homogenously distributed or segregated in clusters on the surface or in the core of the nanowires, depending on the metal catalyst used. Each of the metal catalysts is found to play a unique role in the charge transport of SiNWs. Sn, Pb, and Au yield semiconducting SiNWs, Ga and In produce p-type self-doped SiNWs, and Bi catalyzes n-type self-doped SiNWs. A combination of these different nanowires may provide a bottom-up growth strategy for fabrication of different nanowire-based electronic components.

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Role of a‐Si:H in lateral growth of crystalline silicon nanowires using Pb and In catalysts

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

Nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires under plasma

Nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires under plasma

Comparative study of catalyst-induced doping and metal incorporation in silicon nanowires

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