Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures
Controlling the morphology and composition of semiconductor nano- and micro-structures is crucial for fundamental studies and applications. Here, Si-Ge semiconductor nanostructures were fabricated using photolithographically defined micro-crucibles on Si substrates. Interestingly, the nanostructure...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/5/894 |
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| author | Galih R. Suwito Vladimir G. Dubrovskii Zixiao Zhang Weizhen Wang Sofiane Haffouz Dan Dalacu Philip J. Poole Peter Grutter Nathaniel J. Quitoriano |
| author_facet | Galih R. Suwito Vladimir G. Dubrovskii Zixiao Zhang Weizhen Wang Sofiane Haffouz Dan Dalacu Philip J. Poole Peter Grutter Nathaniel J. Quitoriano |
| author_sort | Galih R. Suwito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Controlling the morphology and composition of semiconductor nano- and micro-structures is crucial for fundamental studies and applications. Here, Si-Ge semiconductor nanostructures were fabricated using photolithographically defined micro-crucibles on Si substrates. Interestingly, the nanostructure morphology and composition of these structures are strongly dependent on the size of the liquid–vapour interface (i.e., the opening of the micro-crucible) in the CVD deposition step of Ge. In particular, Ge crystallites nucleate in micro-crucibles with larger opening sizes (3.74–4.73 μm<sup>2</sup>), while no such crystallites are found in micro-crucibles with smaller openings of 1.15 μm<sup>2</sup>. This interface area tuning also results in the formation of unique semiconductor nanostructures: lateral nano-trees (for smaller openings) and nano-rods (for larger openings). Further TEM imaging reveals that these nanostructures have an epitaxial relationship with the underlying Si substrate. This geometrical dependence on the micro-scale vapour–liquid–solid (VLS) nucleation and growth is explained within a dedicated model, where the incubation time for the VLS Ge nucleation is inversely proportional to the opening size. The geometric effect on the VLS nucleation can be used for the fine tuning of the morphology and composition of different lateral nano- and micro-structures by simply changing the area of the liquid–vapour interface. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:15:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b179f99e130643598a66812ee1807b12 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:15:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-b179f99e130643598a66812ee1807b122023-11-17T08:18:00ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912023-02-0113589410.3390/nano13050894Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor NanostructuresGalih R. Suwito0Vladimir G. Dubrovskii1Zixiao Zhang2Weizhen Wang3Sofiane Haffouz4Dan Dalacu5Philip J. Poole6Peter Grutter7Nathaniel J. Quitoriano8Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, CanadaFaculty of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199034, RussiaDepartment of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, CanadaDepartment of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, CanadaNational Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A0R6, CanadaNational Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A0R6, CanadaNational Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A0R6, CanadaDepartment of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8, CanadaDepartment of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, CanadaControlling the morphology and composition of semiconductor nano- and micro-structures is crucial for fundamental studies and applications. Here, Si-Ge semiconductor nanostructures were fabricated using photolithographically defined micro-crucibles on Si substrates. Interestingly, the nanostructure morphology and composition of these structures are strongly dependent on the size of the liquid–vapour interface (i.e., the opening of the micro-crucible) in the CVD deposition step of Ge. In particular, Ge crystallites nucleate in micro-crucibles with larger opening sizes (3.74–4.73 μm<sup>2</sup>), while no such crystallites are found in micro-crucibles with smaller openings of 1.15 μm<sup>2</sup>. This interface area tuning also results in the formation of unique semiconductor nanostructures: lateral nano-trees (for smaller openings) and nano-rods (for larger openings). Further TEM imaging reveals that these nanostructures have an epitaxial relationship with the underlying Si substrate. This geometrical dependence on the micro-scale vapour–liquid–solid (VLS) nucleation and growth is explained within a dedicated model, where the incubation time for the VLS Ge nucleation is inversely proportional to the opening size. The geometric effect on the VLS nucleation can be used for the fine tuning of the morphology and composition of different lateral nano- and micro-structures by simply changing the area of the liquid–vapour interface.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/5/894VLS growthsemiconductor nanostructuresAu-Si-Ge alloyincubation timeliquid–vapour interface |
| spellingShingle | Galih R. Suwito Vladimir G. Dubrovskii Zixiao Zhang Weizhen Wang Sofiane Haffouz Dan Dalacu Philip J. Poole Peter Grutter Nathaniel J. Quitoriano Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures Nanomaterials VLS growth semiconductor nanostructures Au-Si-Ge alloy incubation time liquid–vapour interface |
| title | Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures |
| title_full | Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures |
| title_fullStr | Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures |
| title_short | Tuning the Liquid–Vapour Interface of VLS Epitaxy for Creating Novel Semiconductor Nanostructures |
| title_sort | tuning the liquid vapour interface of vls epitaxy for creating novel semiconductor nanostructures |
| topic | VLS growth semiconductor nanostructures Au-Si-Ge alloy incubation time liquid–vapour interface |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/13/5/894 |
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