Formation of Ge Nanowires in Oxidized Silicon V-Grooves by Ion Beam Synthesis


Formation of Ge Nanowires in Oxidized Silicon V-Grooves by Ion Beam Synthesis

Müller, T.; Heinig, K.-H.; Schmidt, B.

The formation of Ge nanowires in V-grooves on (001)Si wafers has been studied experimentally as well as theoretically. The V-grooves were formed by anisotropic etching and subsequent oxidation of their surface. The implantation of 1E17 Ge$^{+}$cm$^{-2}$ at 70 keV into the oxide layer leads to an enrichment of Ge in the V-groove bottom. In this Ge rich bottom region, subsequent annealing in N$_{2}$ atmosphere results in the formation of a nanowire by coalescence of Ge precipitates. STEM-EDX investigations of as-implanted samples have confirmed the Ge accumulation at the V-groove bottom, whereas cross-sectional TEM studies of annealed samples prove the formation of a Ge nanowire. The formation mechanisms were studied theoretically by means of a continuum description of sputtering and kinetic 3D lattice Monte-Carlo simulations of phase separation. The preliminary results indicate the possibility of achieving nanowires being several nanometers wide by further growth optimizations.

Keywords: Ion Beam Synthesis; Nanowire; V-groove; Coalescence

  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 175-177 (2001) 468-473
  • Poster
    Ion Beam Modifications of Materials Conference, Porto Alegro, Brazil, August, 2000

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Publ.-Id: 3505