Synthesis of nanostructures in nanowires using sequential catalyst reactions
- Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge (United Kingdom); T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (United States)
- T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (United States); National Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu City (Taiwan); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (United States)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge (United Kingdom)
Nanowire growth by the vapour–liquid–solid (VLS) process enables a high level of control over nanowire composition, diameter, growth direction, branching and kinking, periodic twinning, and crystal structure. The tremendous impact of VLS-grown nanowires is due to this structural versatility, generating applications ranging from solid-state lighting and single-photon sources to thermoelectric devices. Here, we show that the morphology of these nanostructures can be further tailored by using the liquid droplets that catalyse nanowire growth as a ‘mixing bowl’, in which growth materials are sequentially supplied to nucleate new phases. Growing within the liquid, these phases adopt the shape of faceted nanocrystals that are then incorporated into the nanowires by further growth. Furthermore, we demonstrate this concept by epitaxially incorporating metal-silicide nanocrystals into Si nanowires with defect-free interfaces, and discuss how this process can be generalized to create complex nanowire-based heterostructures.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC00112704
- OSTI ID:
- 1235860
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-111620-2015-JA; KC0403020
- Journal Information:
- Nature Materials, Vol. 14, Issue 8; ISSN 1476-1122
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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