title: Dynamic observation on the growth behaviors in manganese silicide/silicon nanowire heterostructures.
abstract: Metal silicide nanowires (NWs) are very interesting materials with diverse physical properties. Among the silicides, manganese silicide nanostructures have attracted wide attention due to their several potential applications, including in microelectronics, optoelectronics, spintronics and thermoelectric devices. In this work, we exhibited the formation of pure manganese silicide and manganese silicide/silicon nanowire heterostructures through solid state reaction with line contacts between manganese pads and silicon NWs. Dynamical process and phase characterization were investigated by in situ transmission electron microscopy (in situ TEM) and spherical aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cs-corrected STEM), respectively. The growth dynamics of the manganese silicide phase under thermal effects were systematically studied. Additionally, Al2O3, serving as the surface oxide, altered the growth behavior of the MnSi nanowire, enhancing the silicide/Si epitaxial growth and effecting the diffusion process in the silicon nanowire as well. In addition to fundamental science, this significant study has great potential in advancing future processing techniques in nanotechnology and related applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Rd., East Dist., Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan. wwwu@mail.nctu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yu-Hsun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Chung-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Chun-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jui-Yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wan-Jhen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Wu