Branching induced faceting of Si nanotrees

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 96; no. 12; pp. 123117 - 123117-3
• Main Authors: Doerk, Gregory S., Radmilovic, Velimir, Maboudian, Roya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics 22-03-2010
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3374328

The sidewalls of silicon nanotree trunks grown by the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism with branches seeded by Au surface migration are shown to exhibit strong sawtooth nanofaceting in the region of branching. For Si nanowires grown along the
⟨
111
⟩
direction, facets found after Au surface migration are identified with the {111} and {113} crystallographic planes. These facets differ from those found on the fully synthesized Si nanotrees, which occur on {111} and {100} planes. We hypothesize that the facets found on the nanotrees are composed of the basal structures of the branches and are induced by branch nucleation.