title: Synthesis of nanostructures in nanowires using sequential catalyst reactions.
abstract: Nanowire growth by the vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) process enables a high level of control over nanowire composition, diameter, growth direction, branching and kinking, periodic twinning, and crystal structure. The tremendous impact of VLS-grown nanowires is due to this structural versatility, generating applications ranging from solid-state lighting and single-photon sources to thermoelectric devices. Here, we show that the morphology of these nanostructures can be further tailored by using the liquid droplets that catalyse nanowire growth as a 'mixing bowl', in which growth materials are sequentially supplied to nucleate new phases. Growing within the liquid, these phases adopt the shape of faceted nanocrystals that are then incorporated into the nanowires by further growth. We demonstrate this concept by epitaxially incorporating metal-silicide nanocrystals into Si nanowires with defect-free interfaces, and discuss how this process can be generalized to create complex nanowire-based heterostructures.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 9 J. J. Thomson Avenue Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK [2] IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Panciera
authors.affiliation: 1] IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA [2] Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan [3] Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zakharov
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Stach
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 9 J. J. Thomson Avenue Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.affiliation: IBM Research Division, T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ross