The preparation of 20 ± 5 nm diameter Si nanowires and the electrical characterization of Si nanowire devices
are presented. The nanowires were grown at 450−500 °C on solid substrates via the vapor−liquid−solid
mechanism using Au or Zn nucleation catalysts and SiH4 as the silicon source. The wires were investigated
by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Two types of wires were found, as characterized by
different growth directions (〈111̄〉 and 〈211〉). Several types of devices, including crossed nanowire devices,
four- and six-terminal devices, and three-terminal (gated) devices, were fabricated. For certain devices, various
electrode compositions were also studied. The measured resistivity of these nanowires was separated from
the contact resistance and could be varied from >105 Ω cm to ∼10-3 Ω cm. The wide variation in resistivity
was related to the nature of the electrical contact to the wires (Schottky or Ohmic) and to the doping level
of the wires. Doping of the nanowires was performed by the thermal diffusion of metal catalyst into the
nanowires at 750−850 °C. Au nucleated nanowires exhibited resistivity values much lower than those of
similarly treated Zn nucleated nanowires. This result is attributed to the much larger relative solid solubility
of gold in silicon.
Articles you may be interested inNonvolatile memory thin film transistors using CdSe/ZnS quantum dot-poly(methyl methacrylate) composite layer formed by a two-step spin coating technique J. Appl. Phys. 112, 034518 (2012); 10.1063/1.4745041Two-bit effect of trigate nanowires polycrystalline silicon thin-film-transistor nonvolatile memory with oxide/nitride/oxide gate dielectrics
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.