Metal-free Growth of Si/SiO2 Nanowires by Annealing SiOx (x<2) Films Deposited by PECVD

Abstract

ABSTRACTA new metal catalysis-free method of fabricating Si or SiO2 nanowires (NWs) compatible with Si CMOS technology was proposed by annealing SiOx (x<2) films deposited by plasma -enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The effects of the Si content (x value) and thickness of SiOx films, the annealing process and flowing gas ambient on the NW growth were studied in detail. The results indicated that the SiOx film of a thickness below 300 nm with × value close to 1 was most favorable for NW growth upon annealing at 1000–1150°C in the flowing gas mixture of N2 and H2. NWs of 50–100nm in diameter and tens of micrometers in length were synthesized by this method. The formation mechanism was likely to be related to a new type of oxide assisted growth (OAG) mechanism, with Si nanoclusters in SiOx films after phase separation serving as the nuclei for the growth of NWs in SiOx films>200nm, and SiO molecules from thin SiOx film decomposition inducing the NW growth in films<100nm. An effective preliminary method to control NW growth direction was also demonstrated by etching trenches in SiOx films followed by annealing.