Control over Alignment and Growth Kinetics of Si Nanowires through Surface Fluctuation of Liquid Precursor

Abstract

Control over alignment and growth kinetics of vertically aligned Si nanowire (v-SiNW) arrays, which were grown using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) via a metal catalyst-assisted vapor liquid solid (VLS) mechanism, was demonstrated by introducing a homemade bubbler system containing a SiCl4 solution as the Si precursor. Careful control over the bubbler afforded different amounts of SiCl4 supplied to the reactor. By varying the dipping depth (Dd) and tilting angle (Ta) of the bubbler, the SiCl4 precursor concentration would fluctuate to different degrees. The different SiCl4 concentrations afforded the fine-tuning of v-SiNW array properties like alignment and growth kinetics. The degree of alignment of v-SiNWs could be increased with large amounts of SiCl4, which was caused by slight shallow depth or gentle tilting of the SiCl4 solution in the bubbler due to an increasing degree of fluctuation and fluctuation area. The ability to control alignment and growth kinetics of v-SiNW arrays could be employed in advanced nanoelectronic devices.