Synthesis of nickel catalyzed Si/SiC core–shell nanowires by HWCVD

Abstract

Si/SiC core–shell nanowires grown on glass substrates by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition were studied. Nickel was used as a catalyst to initiate the growth of these core–shell nanowires and the nanowires were grown at different deposition pressures of 0.5 and 1mbar. The core of the nanowire was found to be a single crystalline Si. The shell of the nanowire consisted of Si nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous SiC matrix which was attributed to a radial growth of columnar structures. The Si and SiC nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous matrix exhibited room-temperature photoluminescence emissions in the range of 400nm–1μm. A vapor–solid–solid growth mechanism of these core–shell nanowires is proposed. The effects of the deposition pressure on the properties of the core–shell nanowires are also discussed.