Growth study of indium-catalyzed silicon nanowires by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Indium was used as a catalyst for the synthesis of silicon nanowires in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor. In order to foster the catalytic activity of indium, the indium droplets had to be exposed to a hydrogen plasma prior to nanowire growth in a silane plasma. The structure of the nanowires was investigated as a function of the growth conditions by electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The nanowires were found to crystallize along the <111>, <112> or <001> growth direction. When growing on the <112> and <111> directions, they revealed a similar crystal quality and the presence of a high density of twins along the {111} planes. The high density and periodicity of these twins lead to the formation of hexagonal domains inside the cubic structure. The corresponding Raman signature was found to be a peak at 495 cm⁻¹, in agreement with previous studies. Finally, electron energy loss spectroscopy indicates an occasional migration of indium during growth.     

衬底对化学气相沉积法制备氧化硅纳米线的影响

通过化学气相沉积法在不同衬底上制备了大量的氧化硅纳米线.选用衬底为Si片、带有约100nm厚SiO2氧化层Si片和石英片.利用场发射扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和透射电镜(TEM，配备有能谱仪)对样品的表面形貌、结构和成分进行研究.结果表明：这些纳米线都为非晶态，但在不同衬底上生长的纳米线形貌、尺寸和化学成分不同.讨论了各种衬底对不同特征氧化硅纳米线生长的影响. 关键词： 化学气相沉积 纳米线 纳米颗粒     

等离子体增强化学气相沉积法实现硅纳米线掺硼

用等离子体增强化学气相沉积(PECVD)方法成功实现硅纳米线的掺B.选用Si片作衬底，硅烷 （SiH4）作硅源，硼烷（B2H6）作掺杂气体， Au作催化剂，生长温度440℃.基于气-液-固(VLS)机制，探讨了掺B硅纳米线可能的生长机制.PECVD法化学成分配比更灵活，更容易实现纳米线掺杂，进一步有望生长硅纳米线pn结，为研制纳米量级器件提供技术基础. 关键词： 硅纳米线 化学气相沉积 纳米器件     

Conformal dielectric films on silicon nanowire arrays by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

In this article, we describe the coating of silicon nanowire arrays with thin dielectric layers using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD). The impact of deposition pressure, temperature, and nanowire array density on the silicon oxide coating thickness uniformity was assessed using a detailed electron microscopy observations of the nanowire arrays. Deposition rates were found to vary along the nanowire length as a function of the above process parameters, and ranged from 0 to 35 nm/min. The coating thickness was found to be most uniform at higher pressures and temperatures, and high-density nanowire arrays with smaller nanowire diameters and larger lengths led to the deposition of coating with a smaller thickness gradient along the wire length.     

Effect of substrate temperature on gold-catalyzed silicon nanostructures growth by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD)

The effect of substrate temperature on the structural property of the silicon nanostructures deposited on gold-coated crystal silicon substrate by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) was studied. The uniformity and size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures is highly influenced by the substrate temperature. XRD, Raman and HRTEM measurements show the silicon nanostructures consist of small crystallites embedded within amorphous matrix. The crystallite size of the as-grown silicon nanostructures decreases with increases in substrate temperature. FTIR shows that these silicon nanostructures are highly disordered for sample prepared at substrate temperature above 250 °C. The correlation of crystallinity and structure disorder of the silicon nanostructures growth at different substrate temperature was discussed.     

Synthesis of thin silicon nanowires using gold-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition

Silicon nanowires were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition catalyzed by gold nanoparticles deposited on silicon substrates. Silicon nanowires grew epitaxially in 111 directions on (100)-oriented silicon substrates. For a particular set of process parameters, we observed a critical thickness of the nucleating gold film, below which nanowires could not be grown. We studied the dependence of the Au-Si alloy droplet size and size distribution on the starting gold film thickness and the annealing conditions. Increasing the Cl:Si ratio in the gas phase allowed nanowires to grow on smaller Au-Si alloy droplets. We used a modified heating sequence that deconvoluted the effect of silicon substrate consumption and gas-phase silicon supply on the Au-Si alloy formation and allowed growth of nanowires with diameters less than 20 nm. The modified heating sequence was also used to demonstrate the growth of bridging silicon nanowires with diameters less than 20 nm, which is a significant step in producing electronic devices. PACS 81.07.b; 81.15.Gh     

Broadband antireflection of silicon nanorod arrays prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si:H) nanorod arrays were cost-effectively prepared on electrodeposited nickel nanocones substrates by very high frequency plasma enhanced vapor deposition. The antireflection properties of the obtained Si nanorod arrays were investigated carefully for the possible application in solar cells. It was found that the structures of nc-Si:H nanorod arrays can be tuned to obtain a very low reflectance especially in the near infrared region. The obtained Si nanostructure with well-separated nanorods, each of which had an average diameter of 200 nm and height of 700 nm, showed a reflectance value of <5% at normal incident over a wide wavelength of 400-1100 nm.     

Interface property of silicon nitride films grown by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on In0.82Al0.18As

Au/silicon nitride/In_0.82Al_0.18As metal insulating semiconductor (MIS) capacitors were fabricated and then investigated by capacitance voltage (C–V) test at variable frequencies and temperatures. Two different technologies silicon nitride (SiN_x) films deposited by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (“ICPCVD”) and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (“PECVD”) were applied to the MIS capacitors. Fixed charges (N_f), fast (D_it) and slow (N_si) interface states were calculated and analyzed for the different films deposition MIS capacitors. The D_it was calculated to be 4.16 × 10¹³ cm⁻² eV⁻¹ for “ICPCVD” SiN_x MIS capacitors, which was almost the same to that of “PECVD” SiN_x MIS capacitors. The D_it value is obviously higher for the extended wavelength In_xGa_1−xAs (x > 0.53) epitaxial material as a result of lattice mismatch with substrate. Compared to the results of “PECVD” SiN_x MIS capacitors, the N_si was significantly lower and the N_f was slightly lower for “ICPCVD” SiN_x MIS capacitors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis shows good quality of the “ICPCVD” grown SiN_x. The low temperature deposited SiN_x films grown by “ICPCVD” show better effect on decreasing the dark current of In_xGa_1−xAs photodiodes.     

大气压等离子体辅助多晶硅薄膜化学气相沉积参数诊断

本文采用发射光谱法诊断了大气压下Ar气、SiCl₄及H₂气混合气体（Ar/SiCl₄/H₂）射频放电等离子体射流特性.利用Si原子谱线强度计算了电子激发温度并以此估算了Si原子数密度,研究了射频功率及气体流量对电子激发温度和Si原子数密度以及SiCl₄解离率的作用.     

Production of nanocrystalline silicon layers using the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from the gas phase of silicon tetrafluoride

The production of silicon layers using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition in the mixture of silicon tetrafluoride and hydrogen is reported. The samples have been analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The phase composition of the layers is nanocrystalline silicon with the crystalline-domain sizes from 3 to 9 nm in dependence of the conditions of the process. The samples are characterized by intense photoluminescence at room temperature.     

大气压等离子体辅助多晶硅薄膜化学气相沉积参数诊断

本文采用发射光谱法诊断了大气压下Ar气、SiCl₄及H₂气混合气体（Ar/SiCl₄/H₂）射频放电等离子体射流特性.利用Si原子谱线强度计算了电子激发温度并以此估算了Si原子数密度,研究了射频功率及气体流量对电子激发温度和Si原子数密度以及SiCl₄解离率的作用. 关键词： 大气压等离子体射流 发射光谱 电子激发温度 多晶硅薄膜沉积     

Synthesis and characterization of GaN nanowires by a catalyst assisted chemical vapor deposition

GaN nanowires have been fabricated on Si(1 1 1) substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with NiCl₂ as catalyst and their compositions, microstructures, morphologies and light emitting properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectrophotometer (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The results demonstrate that the nanowires are single-crystal GaN with hexagonal wurtzite structure and high crystalline quality, having the size of 20-50 nm in diameter and several tens of microns in length with some nano-droplets on their tips, which reveals that the growth mechanism of GaN nanowires agrees with vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process. Five first-order Raman active phonon bands move to low shift and A₁(TO), E₁(TO), and E₂ (high) bands are overlapped and broaden, which is caused by uncertainty in the phonon wave vector. Five non-first-order active Raman phonons also appear, which is caused by the small dimension and high surface disorder degree. A blue-shift of the band-gap emission occurs due to quantum confinement effect.     

微波等离子体化学气相沉积合成掺氮金刚石薄膜的缺陷和结构特征及其生长行为

Diamond film was deposited in CH₄ and H₂ gas mixture with a small amount of N₂ by microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). Scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were applied to characterize the film. The results showed that the growth of grains are different the central region and the edge. In the central region, diamond grains nucleated with a density as high as 4.8×10⁸ cm^-2 and were preferential in 〈001〉 orientation. The inner grains formed an area without stacking faults,which was surrounded by a rim with a high density of stacking faults. A growth model was suggested to interpret the morphological feature and the behavior of preferential growth. At the edge, the grains were identified to be 6H polytypes of diamond and a new twin relationship of grains was found. Besides, the effect of the N dopant on the growth behavior of the diamond film deposited by MPCVD was discussed in connection with the growth rate of the film. 关键词： 金刚石 结构表征 透射电子显微镜 多型金刚石     

Polycrystalline silicon films obtained by hot-wire chemical vapour deposition

Silicon films were deposited at moderate substrate temperatures (280–500° C) from pure silane and a silane-hydrogen mixture (10% SiH₄, 90% H₂) in a hotwire CVD reactor. The morphology, structure and composition of the samples were studied with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, transmission electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The sample deposited at 500° C with pure silane has an amorphous structure, whereas the samples obtained from silane diluted in hydrogen have a polycrystalline structure, even that grown at the lowest temperature (280° C). Polycrystalline samples have a columnar structure with 0.3–1 m crystallite sizes with preferential orientation in [220] direction. Deposition rates depend on the filament-substrate distance and range from 9.5 to 37 Å/s for the polycrystalline samples. The high quality of the polycrystalline samples obtained makes the hot-wire technique very promising. Moreover, it is expected to be easily scaled up for applications to large-area optoelectronic devices and to photovoltaic solar cells.     

Growth and use of metal nanocrystal assemblies on high-density silicon nanowires formed by chemical vapor deposition

In this paper, we describe the growth and potential application of metal nanocrystal assemblies on metal-catalyzed, CVD-grown silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The nanowires are decorated by chemical assembly of closely spaced (1–5 nm) Ag (30–100 nm diameter) and Au (5–25 nm diameter) nanocrystals formed from solutions of AgNO₃ and NaAuCl₄·2H₂O, respectively. The formation and growth of metal nanocrystals is believed to involve the galvanic reduction of metal ions from solution and the subsequent oxidation of available Si-hydride sites on the surfaces of the nanowires. A native oxide layer suppresses formation of metal nanocrystals; adding HF to the ionic solutions significantly increases the density of nanocrystals on the surfaces of the nanowires. The nanocrystals coating the nanowires were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Ag nanocrystals on the nanowires afford sensitive detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules in the 100 picomolar–micromolar range by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. In addition, Au nanocrystals formed on selected surfaces of a substrate of arbitrary shape can serve as effective nuclei for localized nanowire growth. PACS 81.07.b; 81.15.Gh     

Influence of ignition condition on the growth of silicon thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

The influences of the plasma ignition condition in plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) on the interfaces and the microstructures of hydrogenated microcrystalline Si (μc-Si:H) thin films are investigated. The plasma ignition condition is modified by varying the ratio of SiH₄ to H₂ (R_H). For plasma ignited with a constant gas ratio, the time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy presents a low value of the emission intensity ratio of Hα to SiH^* (I_Hα/I_SiH^*) at the initial stage, which leads to a thick amorphous incubation layer. For the ignition condition with a profiling R_H, the higher I_Hα/I_SiH^* values are realized. By optimizing the R_H modulation, a uniform crystallinity along the growth direction and a denser μ c-Si:H film can be obtained. However, an excessively high I_Hα/I_SiH^* may damage the interface properties, which is indicated by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. Well controlling the ignition condition is critically important for the applications of Si thin films.     

Catalyst-free growth of well-aligned arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires by chemical vapor deposition method

ZnO nanowires with different arsenic concentration were grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates by chemical vapor deposition method without using catalyst. Zn/GaAs mixed powders were used as Zn and As source, respectively. Oxygen was used as oxidant. The images of scanning electron microscope show that the arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires with preferred c-axial orientation were obtained, which is in well accordance with the X-ray diffraction analysis. The arsenic related acceptor emission was observed in the photoluminescence spectra at 11 K for all arsenic-doped ZnO samples. This method for the preparation of arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires may open the way to realize the ZnO nanowires based light-emitting diode and laser diode.     

Influence of ignition condition on the growth of silicon thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

The influences of the plasma ignition condition in plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) on the interfaces and the microstructures of hydrogenated microcrystalline Si (μc-Si:H) thin films are investigated.The plasma ignition condition is modified by varying the ratio of SiH 4 to H 2 (R H).For plasma ignited with a constant gas ratio,the time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy presents a low value of the emission intensity ratio of Hα to SiH (I Hα /I SiH) at the initial stage,which leads to a thick amorphous incubation layer.For the ignition condition with a profiling R H,the higher I Hα /I SiH values are realized.By optimizing the R H modulation,a uniform crystallinity along the growth direction and a denser μc-Si:H film can be obtained.However,an excessively high I Hα /I SiH may damage the interface properties,which is indicated by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements.Well controlling the ignition condition is critically important for the applications of Si thin films.