Abstract
Galium nanodroplets induced the anisotropic growth of ultrathin (diameter (<5nm) silicon nanowires in accordance with the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. X-ray diffraction and dispersion spectroscopy, and scanning, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the product. High-resolution TEM analysis revealed the existence of twins in the nanowires. In contrast to the theoretically predicated 5-fold twinning in ultrathin Si nanowires (diameter (<6nm), no twinning on the {111} planes along the wire axial directions was observed. The possible reasons for the formation of novel nanostructures are discussed.