Abstract
The growth of one-dimensional nanostructures without a metal catalyst via a simple solution method is of considerable interest due to its practical applications. In this study, the growth of amorphous silicon (a-Si) nanotips was investigated using an aqueous solution dropped onto the Si substrate, followed by drying at room temperature or below for 24 h, resulting in the formation of a-Si nanotips on the Si substrate. Typically, the a-Si nanotips were up to 1.6 μm long, with average top and middle diameters of 30 and 80 nm, respectively, and contained no metal catalyst in their structure. The growth of a-Si nanotips can be explained in terms of the liquid–solid mechanism, where the supercritical Si solution (liquid) generated on the Si substrate (after reaction with the aqueous solution) promotes the nucleation of solid Si (acting as seeds) on the roughened surface, followed by surface diffusion of Si atoms along the side wall of the Si seeds. This is very similar to the phenomenon observed in the growth of snow ice crystals in nature. When photoexcited at 265 nm, the a-Si nanotips showed blue luminescence at around 435 nm (2.85 eV), indicating feasible applicability of the nanotips in optoelectronic functional devices.
Highlights
The growth of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as nanowires (NWs), nanorods, and nanotubes, is of considerable interest in terms of its potential applications in novel functional electrical and optical devices, including light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, solar cells, and sensors [1]
Multiple approaches have been introduced to grow 1D nanomaterials using various materials such as Si [2,3], C [4,5], ZnO [6,7], GaN [8,9], TiO2 [10,11], SiOx [12,13], and so forth. Among these 1D nanomaterials, Si NWs have been the most widely studied because Si is the most common industrial semiconductor and nanomaterials can facilitate the design of novel functional devices beyond the confines of Si films [14,15]
We developed a novel method to grow amorphous silicon (a-Si) nanotips on a Si substrate at room temperature (RT) or below under atmospheric pressure
Summary
The growth of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as nanowires (NWs), nanorods, and nanotubes, is of considerable interest in terms of its potential applications in novel functional electrical and optical devices, including light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, solar cells, and sensors [1]. Multiple approaches have been introduced to grow 1D nanomaterials using various materials such as Si [2,3], C [4,5], ZnO [6,7], GaN [8,9], TiO2 [10,11], SiOx [12,13], and so forth Among these 1D nanomaterials, Si NWs have been the most widely studied because Si is the most common industrial semiconductor and nanomaterials can facilitate the design of novel functional devices beyond the confines of Si films [14,15]. Top-down fabrication of Si NWs using plasma or chemical etching techniques have recently been reported [17,18] These methods entail complex processing and equipment or require temperatures above 300 ◦C. We recently demonstrated a novel aqueous-solution-based method for growing crystalline Si (c-Si)
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