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Room temperature growth of wafer-scale silicon nanowire arrays and their Raman characteristics

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Abstract

We report a simple, inexpensive, and rapid process for large area growth of vertically aligned crystalline silicon nanowires (SiNWs) of diameter 40–200 nm and variable length directly on p-type (100) silicon substrate. The process is based on Ag-induced selective etching of silicon wafers wherein the growth of SiNWs was carried out using the aqueous HF solution containing Ag+ ions at room temperature in a Teflon vessel. Effect of etching time has been investigated to understand the evolution of SiNW arrays. It has been found that the length of SiNWs has a linear dependence on the etching time for small to moderate periods (0–2 h). However, etching rate decreases slowly for long etching times (>2 h). Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the morphology of the SiNW arrays. Structural and compositional analysis was carried out using Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Orders of magnitude intensity enhancement along with a small downshift and broadening in the first-order Raman peak of SiNW arrays was observed in comparison to the bulk crystalline silicon.

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Acknowledgments

The present study is funded by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) India under network project SIP-017. One of the authors, Dinesh Kumar, is grateful to University Grant Commission (UGC), India for providing financial support in the form of research fellowship during this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg, Pusa, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Dinesh Kumar, Sanjay K. Srivastava, P. K. Singh, K. N. Sood & Nita Dilawar

  2. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India

    V. N. Singh

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, 110025, India

    M. Husain

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  1. Dinesh Kumar
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  2. Sanjay K. Srivastava
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  3. P. K. Singh
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  4. K. N. Sood
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  5. V. N. Singh
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  6. Nita Dilawar
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  7. M. Husain
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Correspondence to Sanjay K. Srivastava.

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Kumar, D., Srivastava, S.K., Singh, P.K. et al. Room temperature growth of wafer-scale silicon nanowire arrays and their Raman characteristics. J Nanopart Res 12, 2267–2276 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9795-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9795-7

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