Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) were fabricated on Si(111) surfaces by both thermal evaporation and sputtering methods. Au nanocrystals were used as the metal catalysts and they were fabricated by electron beam evaporation. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to characterize the Si NWs. The diameters of the Si NWs were measured to be about few tens of nanometer. The mechanism of the nanowires formation by these methods was also discussed. | Journal of Science and Technology 54 (5A) (2016) 169-173 SILICON NANOWIRES FABRICATION BY PHYSICAL METHOD Nguyen Thi Thuy1, 2, *, Vuong Xuan Anh1, Ha Viet Anh1, Nguyen Duc Chien1, Nguyen Huu Lam1 1 2 Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1 Dai Co Viet, Hanoi Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, Dan Tien, My Hao, Hung Yen Email: thuyiop@ Received: 20 June 2016; Accepted for publication: 5 December 2016 ABSTRACT Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) were fabricated on Si(111) surfaces by both thermal evaporation and sputtering methods. Au nanocrystals were used as the metal catalysts and they were fabricated by electron beam evaporation. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to characterize the Si NWs. The diameters of the Si NWs were measured to be about few tens of nanometer. The mechanism of the nanowires formation by these methods was also discussed. Keywords: silicon nanowire, thermal evaporation, sputtering, catalyst. 1. INTRODUCTION Recently, Si nanowires (Si NWs) have attracted considerable attention because of their outstanding physical properties and potential applications in many fields such as optoelectronics and chemical and biological sensors [1, 2]. Various methods have been developed for synthesizing of Si NWs such as oxide-assisted chemical vapor deposition (without a metal catalyst), laser ablation, thermal evaporation and metal-catalyzed molecular beam epitaxy [3, 4]. In most of these methods, Si NWs are grown using a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism [5]. Regarding silicon wire growth, it is remarkable to see how much was already known in the 1960s. The best example of this is the vapor - liquid - solid mechanism of Si wire growth proposed by Wagner and Ellis in 1964 [5]. Today, the vapor - liquid - solid (VLS) growth mechanism is the most prominent method for silicon wire synthesis. The VLS mechanism really represents the core of silicon wire research, though it works not only for silicon but also .
