Electron Microscopy Studies on the Growth of Well-Aligned NiSi/SiC Core-Shell Nanowires Synthesized by HWCVD

Abstract

Well-aligned NiSi/SiC core-shell nanowires were grown on Ni-coated p-type crystal Si (100) substrates by using hot-wires chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) technique. The growth of the nanowires was performed at a substrate temperature of 450°C and facilitated by a hot-filament at a temperature above 1800°C. Electron microscopy characterizations were employed to investigate the morphology, and microstructure properties of the nanowires. A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images indicate that the nanowires were structured by single crystalline NiSi and amorphous SiC as the core and shell respectively. Moreover, the TEM images showed presence of 3C-SiC nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous matrix in the shell.