Patterned epitaxial vapor-liquid-solid growth of silicon nanowires on Si(111) using silane

Abstract

We have carried out a detailed study on the vapour-liquid-solid growth of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) on (111)-oriented Si substrates using Au as catalytic seed material. Arrays of individual seeds were patterned by electron-beam lithography, followed by Au evaporation and lift-off. SiNWs were grown using diluted silane as precursor gas in a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition system. The silane partial pressure, substrate temperature, and seed diameter were systematically varied to obtain the growth rate of the NWs and the rate of sidewall deposition. Activation energies of 19 kcalmol for the axial SiNW growth and 29 kcalmol for the radial deposition on the SiNW surface are derived from the data. SiNW growth at elevated temperatures is accompanied by significant Au surface diffusion, leading to a loss of Au from the tips of the SiNWs that depends on the layout and density of the Au seeds patterned. In contrast to NWs grown from a thin-film-nucleated substrate, the deterministic patterning of identical Au seeds of varying diameters allows accurate measurements of the nucleation yield of the SiNW, which is close to 100%, and analysis of the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. In addition to the vertical and the three 70.5°-inclined 〈111〉 epitaxial growth directions, we observe three additional 70.5°-inclined directions, which are rotated by 60°. The 60° rotation is explained by the occurrence of stacking faults in the SiNWs. The overall yield of vertically grown 〈111〉 NWs depends sensitively on the partial pressure of the silane and, to a lesser extent, on the growth temperature. At 80 mTorr partial pressure and 470 °C, up to 60% of the SiNWs grow in the vertical 〈111〉 direction. In situ doping of SiNWs using arsine resulted in a significant reduction of nucleation and wire growth, whereas doping with trimethylboron and phosphine exhibited no difference in growth and epitaxy compared with undoped samples. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.