Title
Catalyst-free synthesis of sub-5 nm silicon nanowire arrays with massive lattice contraction and wide bandgap
Author
Sen Gao, Sanghyun Hong, Soohyung Park, Hyun Young Jung, Wentao Liang, Yonghee Lee, Chi Won Ahn, Ji Young Byun, Juyeon Seo, Myung Gwan Hahm, Hyehee Kim, Kiwoong Kim, Yeonjin Yi, Hailong Wang, Moneesh Upmanyu, Sung-Goo Lee, Yoshikazu Homma, Humberto Terrones & Yung Joon Jung
Year
2022
Journal
Nature Communications
Abstract
The need for miniaturized and high-performance devices has attracted enormous attention to the development of quantum silicon nanowires. However, the preparation of abundant quantities of silicon nanowires with the effective quantum-confined dimension remains challenging. Here, we prepare highly dense and vertically aligned sub-5 nm silicon nanowires with length/diameter aspect ratios greater than 10,000 by developing a catalyst-free chemical vapor etching process. We observe an unusual lattice reduction of up to 20% within ultra-narrow silicon nanowires and good oxidation stability in air compared to conventional silicon. Moreover, the material exhibits a direct optical bandgap of 4.16 eV and quasi-particle bandgap of 4.75 eV with the large exciton binding energy of 0.59 eV, indicating the significant phonon and electronic confinement. The results may provide an opportunity to investigate the chemistry and physics of highly confined silicon quantum nanostructures and may explore their potential uses in nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and energy systems.
Full Article
Instrument
V-770
Keywords
quantum, silicon, nanowires, nanoelectrics