A Nickel–Gold Bilayer
Catalyst Engineering
Technique for Self-Assembled Growth of Highly Ordered Silicon Nanotubes
(SiNT)
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Abstract
We report the growth of vertically aligned high-crystallinity
silicon
nanotube (SiNT) arrays on silicon substrate by means of a Ni–Au
bilayer catalyst engineering technique. Nanotubes were synthesized
through solid–liquid–solid method as well as vapor–liquid–solid.
A precise evaluation utilizing atomic force microscopy and lateral
force microscopy describes that the gold profile in Ni regions leads
to the construction of multiwall SiNTs. The agreement of the structural
geometry and stiffness of the obtained SiNTs with previous theoretical
predictions suggest sp hybridization as
the mechanism of tube formation. Apart from scanning electron and
transmission electron microscopy techniques, photoluminescence spectroscopy
(PL) has been conducted to investigate the formation of nanostructures.
PL spectroscopy confirms the evolution of ultrafine walls of the silicon
nanotubes, responsible for the observed photoemission properties