Growth mechanism of twinned SiC nanowires synthesized by a simple thermal evaporation method

Hexagonal prism shaped β-SiC nanowires with thinner tips and (1 1 1) twin structure were obtained via a simple evaporation method. The morphology featured by the thinner tip rooted on the top of a SiC nanowire suggests the screw dislocation growth of nanowires. Based on these results, a growth mechanism for the twinned nanowires was proposed. The reaction involving SiO and CO gas and atom rearrangement within the growing nanowires were considered in the mechanism. We discussed these findings and present that the formation of the twinned SiC nanowires was the codetermined result of the screw dislocation induced growth, stacking faults of the {1 1 1} close-packed planes and surface energy minimization.