Iron thin film assisted 3C-SiC nanowire growth by CVD at lower temperatures

Abstract

Cubic silicon carbide (β-SiC) nanowires have been synthesized on Si (100) substrates at 1100 °C by using hexachlorodisilane (HCDS) and propane as the source materials. An evaporated iron film served as the catalyst and the growth was done in a horizontal hot-wall atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition system (APCVD). The as-deposited Fe film and the as-grown SiC nanowires were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results show the formation of randomly oriented single crystalline SiC nanowires with diameters ranging between 17 and 19 nm and confirm the low-temperature growth of nanowires. The lowering of the growth temperature as a consequence of the lowering of the melting point of iron is discussed based on the melting point depression in nanosolids. The dependence of growth rate on the concentration of Si is also demonstrated.