Nano Review
Atomic scale investigation of silicon nanowires and nanoclusters
1 Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, Université et INSA de Rouen, UMR CNRS 6634 - Av. de l'université, BP 12, 76801 Saint Etienne du Rouvray, France
2 Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique, UMR CNRS 6252/CEA/ENSICAEN/UCBN, 6 Bd. Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen Cedex 4, France
3 Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie, UMR CNRS 8520, Département ISEN, 41 bd Vauban, 59046 Lille Cedex, France
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:271 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-271
Published: 30 March 2011Abstract
In this study, we have performed nanoscale characterization of Si-clusters and Si-nanowires with a laser-assisted tomographic atom probe. Intrinsic and p-type silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are elaborated by chemical vapor deposition method using gold as catalyst, silane as silicon precursor, and diborane as dopant reactant. The concentration and distribution of impurity (gold) and dopant (boron) in SiNW are investigated and discussed. Silicon nanoclusters are produced by thermal annealing of silicon-rich silicon oxide and silica multilayers. In this process, atom probe tomography (APT) provides accurate information on the silicon nanoparticles and the chemistry of the nanolayers.
