Tin catalyzed-silicon nanowires prepared by solid-liquid-solid mechanism

The fabrication of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) catalyzed by low melting metal through solid-liquid-solid (SLS) mechanism makes it very useful in electronic device applications. However, little research has been done in combining SLS mechanism with Sn catalyst deposited as continuous film by magnetron sputtering system to grow SiNWs. The growth of Sn catalyzed-SiNWs through SLS mechanism by thermal annealing technique on a Si <100> substrate was investigated, and initially Sn catalyst was deposited as a continuous film by magnetron sputtering system. Randomly and voluminous SiNWs are observed on the Si substrate after 1000 ⁰C annealing process with a feature that looks like a tree having many numbers of long branches of SiNWs. These confirm the growth of Sn catalyzed-SiNWs through SLS mechanism, with Sn catalyst initially being deposited as a continuous film.