Engineering island-chain silicon nanowires via a droplet mediated Plateau-Rayleigh transformation.
The ability to program highly modulated morphology upon silicon nanowires (SiNWs) has been fundamental to explore new phononic and electronic functionalities. We here exploit a nanoscale locomotion of metal droplets to demonstrate a large and readily controllable morphology engineering of crystalline SiNWs, from straight ones into continuous or discrete island-chains, at temperature <350 °C. This has been accomplished via a tin (Sn) droplet mediated in-plane growth where amorphous Si thin film is consumed as precursor to produce crystalline SiNWs. Thanks to a significant interface-stretching effect, a periodic Plateau-Rayleigh instability oscillation can be stimulated in the liquid Sn droplet, and the temporal oscillation of the Sn droplets is translated faithfully, via the deformable liquid/solid deposition interface, into regular spatial modulation upon the SiNWs. Combined with a unique self-alignment and positioning capability, this new strategy could enable a rational design and single-run fabrication of a wide variety of nanowire-based optoelectronic devices.
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Zhaoguo
Z
Xue
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Mingkun
M
Xu
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Yaolong
Y
Zhao
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Jimmy
J
Wang
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Xiaofan
X
Jiang
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|LPICM, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau, France.
Linwei
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0801-5210
L
Yu
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Junzhuan
J
Wang
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Jun
J
Xu
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Yi
Y
Shi
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures/School of Electronics Science and Engineering/Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Kunji
K
Chen
LPICM, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau, France.
Pere
P
Roca I Cabarrocas
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