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Controlled growth of highly aligned amorphous SiOx sunflower-like morphology

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Abstract

Highly aligned nanowire bundles were controllably fabricated through the reaction of Si with oxygen, using molten Ga and Au as catalysts. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the bundles have the ability to self-assemble into various morphologies, a few of which, including one that strikingly resembles a sunflower, were not reported before. Examinations of the bundles by transmission electron microscopy show that they contain fine, amorphous SiOx nanowires, with x ranging from 1.2 to 1.5. In the sunflower-like morphology, highly packed bundles form the disc florets and loosely packed bundles around the rim of the disc form the ray florets. We have studied the conditions under which the sunflower-like morphology could be obtained and suggest a possible mechanism for its growth. Room-temperature cathodoluminescence spectra of the nanowire bundles show that they emit an intense broad-band light covering the entire visible range.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this article was partially supported by a grant from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) direct grants (Project Codes 2060305 and 2060308); a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. 411807); the National Natural Science Foundation of China, under Grant No. 60776010; and the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (A2007-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Xitian Zhang, Zhuang Liu, Zhi Zheng & Suikong Hark

  2. Harbin Normal University, People’s Republic of China

    Xitian Zhang

Authors
  1. Xitian Zhang
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  2. Zhuang Liu
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  3. Zhi Zheng
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  4. Suikong Hark
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Correspondence to Suikong Hark.

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Zhang, X., Liu, Z., Zheng, Z. et al. Controlled growth of highly aligned amorphous SiOx sunflower-like morphology. Journal of Materials Research 23, 1667–1673 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0194

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2008.0194

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