Abstract
We report an in-plane solid-liquid-solid (IPSLS) mode for obtaining self-avoiding lateral silicon nanowires (SiNW) in a reacting-gas-free annealing process, where the growth of SiNWs is guided by liquid indium drops that transform the surrounding matrix into crystalline SiNWs. The SiNWs can be long, with the smallest diameter down to . A high growth rate of and rich evolution dynamics are revealed in a real-time in situ scanning electron microscopy observation. A qualitative growth model is proposed to account for the major features of this IPSLS SiNW growth mode.
- Received 11 October 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.125501
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