Synthesis of nickel catalyzed Si/SiC core-shell nanowires by HWCVD

Si/SiC core-shell nanowires grown on glass substrates by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition were studied. Nickel was used as a catalyst to initiate the growth of these core-shell nanowires and the nanowires were grown at different deposition pressures of 0.5 and 1 mbar. The core of the nanowire was found to be a single crystalline Si. The shell of the nanowire consisted of Si nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous SiC matrix which was attributed to a radial growth of columnar structures. The Si and SiC nano-crystallites embedded within an amorphous matrix exhibited room-temperature photoluminescence emissions in the range of 400 nm-1 μm. A vapor-solid-solid growth mechanism of these core-shell nanowires is proposed. The effects of the deposition pressure on the properties of the core-shell nanowires are also discussed.