Incorporation and redistribution of impurities into silicon nanowires during metal-particle-assisted growth

• Published in: Nature communications 2014-06, Vol.5 (1), p.4134-4134, Article 4134
• Main Authors: Chen, Wanghua, Yu, Linwei, Misra, Soumyadeep, Fan, Zheng, Pareige, Philippe, Patriarche, Gilles, Bouchoule, Sophie, Cabarrocas, Pere Roca i
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 101/58; 639/301/357/1016; 639/301/930; Engineering Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5134

The incorporation of metal atoms into silicon nanowires during metal-particle-assisted growth is a critical issue for various nanowire-based applications. Here we have been able to access directly the incorporation and redistribution of metal atoms into silicon nanowires produced by two different processes at growth rates ranging from 3 to 40 nm s −1 , by using laser-assisted atom probe tomography and scanning transmission electron microscopy. We find that the concentration of metal impurities in crystalline silicon nanowires increases with the growth rate and can reach a level of two orders of magnitude higher than that in their equilibrium solubility. Moreover, we demonstrate that the impurities are first incorporated into nanowire volume and then segregate at defects such as the twin planes. A dimer-atom-insertion kinetic model is proposed to account for the impurity incorporation into nanowires. Understanding the incorporation of metal atoms into silicon nanowires during metal-catalysed growth is of importance. Here, the authors find that the metal atom concentration dissolved into the silicon nanowires increases with growth rate and is two orders of magnitude higher than their equilibrium solubility.