A novel self-aligned process for platinum silicide nanowires

Directly accessible, ultralong, uniform platinum silicide nanowires in PtSi and Pt2Si are mass-fabricated by combining a sidewall transfer lithography (STL) technology and a self-aligned silicide process. The STL technology is based on standard Si technology. The self-aligned platinum silicide (PtSix) process consists of two sequential steps in a single run: a silicidation step in N2 to ensure a controllable silicide formation followed by an oxidation step in O2 to form a reliable protective SiOx layer on top of the grown PtSix. The achieved nanowires are characterised by a low resistivity: 26 ± 3 and 34 ± 2 μΩ cm for the Pt2Si- and PtSi-dominated nanowires.