Magnetron sputtering synthesis of large area well-ordered boron nanowire arrays

One-dimensionally nanostructured materials, such as nanowires and nanotubes, are the smallest dimensional structures for efficient transport of electrons and excitons, and are therefore critical building blocks for nanoscale electronic and mechanical devices. In this paper, boron nanowires with uniform diameters from 20 to 80 nm were synthesized by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of pure boron powder and B2O3 powder mixtures in argon atmosphere. The boron nanowires produced stand vertically on the substrate surface to form well-ordered arrays over large areas with self- organized arrangements without involvement of any template and patterned catalyst. The high-density boron nanowires are parallel to each other and well distributed, forming highly ordered and uniform arrays. A more interesting and unique feature of the boron nanowires is that most of their tips are flat rather than hemispherical in morphologies. Detailed studies on its structure and composition indicate that boron nanowires are amorphous. Boron nanowire appears as a new member in the family of one-dimensional nanostructures. Considering the unique properties of boron-rich solids and other nanostructures, it is reasonable to expect that the boron nanowires will display some exceptional and interesting properties. A vapor-cluster-solid (VCS) mechanism was proposed to explain the growth of boron nanowires based on our experimental observations.