Chainlike silicon nanowires: Morphology, electronic structure and luminescence studies

The chainlike silicon nanowires SiNWs have been synthesized by fluctuating the pressure of the carrier gas in the growth process. The chainlike SiNWs comprise crystalline Si nanoparticles interconnected by amorphous silicon oxide wires. In addition to the sphere, other interesting shapes such as rectangular and triangular Si nanoparticles in chainlike SiNWs were also observed. X-ray absorption fine structure shows that the Si nanoparticles in the chainlike SiNWs are crystalline silicon and that the wire has a significantly larger Si oxide to crystalline Si ratio and disorder compared to the normal SiNW. X-ray excited optical luminescence and photoluminescence spectroscopy show that the relatively strong luminescence from the chainlike SiNWs compared to normal SiNWs arises mainly from silicon oxide in the chainlike SiNWs. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.