Epitaxial growth of YSi$_{2}$ nanowires the on Si(110) surface

High-aspect-ratio YSi$_{2}$ nanowires have been grown epitaxially on the Si (110) surface. In contrast to epitaxial growth on the Si (100) surface, YSi$_{2}$ nanowires on Si (110) grow in a single orientation and show a clear preference of nucleating at terrace edges, thus providing a promising method for fabricating regular nanowire arrays with controlled wire separation. The thinnest YSi$_{2}$ nanowires have a cross section of $\sim$ 0.5 x 2.8 nm$^{2}$ with wire lengths of up to a few hundred nm, while thicker nanowires can grow up to several $\mu$m long. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements on individual nanowires indicate that the nanowires have metallic properties while the surface between the nanowires has a band gap of $\sim$ 1eV. These nanowires thus represent an ideal platform for studies of quasi one-dimensional electrical transport. Such studies are currently underway in our laboratory.