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Localized Growth of Silicon Oxide Nanowires by Micro‐Afterglow Oxidation
Author(s) -
Arnoult Grégory,
Gries Thomas,
Henrion Gérard,
Migot Sylvie,
Fournée Vincent,
Belmonte Thierry
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201100191
Subject(s) - nanowire , wafer , substrate (aquarium) , afterglow , materials science , silicon , oxide , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , metallurgy , oceanography , physics , gamma ray burst , astronomy , engineering , geology
Silicon oxide nanowires are synthesised below 523 K by a non‐VLS mechanism on different substrates: Fe‐0.5 wt.‐%Si and Fe‐1.5 wt.‐%Si alloys and silicon wafers coated or not by 30‐nm thick coatings of iron. An Ar‐O 2 micro‐afterglow is used to feed the substrate with oxidising species over an area of ≈2 mm 2 . In this area, circular bundles of nanowires appear after 15 min and are randomly distributed. Each bundle diameter increases with time and reaches 50 µm. After several hours, bundles overlap and give a continuous carpet of nanowires. TEM analyses show that no iron is found in the nanowires, whatever the substrate. A growth mechanism, based on the emergence of a surface defect is proposed.