High-Yield Growth and Tunable Morphology of Bi2Se3 Nanoribbons Synthesized on Thermally Dewetted Au

Abstract

The yield and morphology (length, width, thickness) of stoichiometric Bi2Se3 nanoribbons grown by physical vapor deposition is studied as a function of the diameters and areal number density of the Au catalyst nanoparticles of mean diameters 8–150 nm formed by dewetting Au layers of thicknesses 1.5–16 nm. The highest yield of the Bi2Se3 nanoribbons is reached when synthesized on dewetted 3 nm thick Au layer (mean diameter of Au nanoparticles ~10 nm) and exceeds the nanoribbon yield obtained in catalyst-free synthesis by almost 50 times. The mean lengths and thicknesses of the Bi2Se3 nanoribbons are directly proportional to the mean diameters of Au catalyst nanoparticles. In contrast, the mean widths of the Bi2Se3 nanoribbons do not show a direct correlation with the Au nanoparticle size as they depend on the contribution ratio of two main growth mechanisms—catalyst-free and vapor–liquid–solid deposition. The Bi2Se3 nanoribbon growth mechanisms in relation to the Au catalyst nanoparticle size and areal number density are discussed. Determined charge transport characteristics confirm the high quality of the synthesized Bi2Se3 nanoribbons, which, together with the high yield and tunable morphology, makes these suitable for application in a variety of nanoscale devices.

Formation of Au, Pt, and bimetallic Au–Pt nanostructures from thermal dewetting of single-layer or bilayer thin films

“…The use of dewetting, including pulsed-laser-induced dewetting and thermal dewetting, to form metal nanoparticles and other nanostructures has been widely studied for many metals [6][7][8][9][10]. These metal nanostructures have found a broad range of applications, including catalysts for nanostructure growth [11] or for fuel cells [12], magnetic data storage [10], sensors [13], plasmonic waveguides [14], and etching masks [15].…”

Characterization of Mechanical Oscillations in Bismuth Selenide Nanowires at Low Temperatures

“…Bi 2 Se 3 nanoribbons were grown using a high-yield vapor-solid synthesis method with a Au catalyst reported previously [30]. They were transferred mechanically to the as-fabricated substrate with gate electrodes.…”

Low-Vacuum Catalyst-Free Physical Vapor Deposition and Magnetotransport Properties of Ultrathin Bi2Se3 Nanoribbons

“…Another advantage of the catalyst-free PVD is no need for expensive singlecrystalline substrates. Previously, the successful synthesis of Bi 2 Se 3 nanoribbons has been demonstrated via catalyst-free [34,35] and catalyst-assisted [36][37][38] PVD techniques. Both catalyst-free and catalyst-assisted methods allowed for freestanding Bi 2 Se 3 nanoribbons to be obtained, permitting their easy handling and transfer to the desired substrates and positions [26,34,36].…”

“…Previously, the successful synthesis of Bi 2 Se 3 nanoribbons has been demonstrated via catalyst-free [34,35] and catalyst-assisted [36][37][38] PVD techniques. Both catalyst-free and catalyst-assisted methods allowed for freestanding Bi 2 Se 3 nanoribbons to be obtained, permitting their easy handling and transfer to the desired substrates and positions [26,34,36]. However, the thicknesses of the vast majority of these nanoribbons ranged from ~20 to ~100 nm, with a negligible number of nanoribbons with thicknesses below 15 nm [39].…”