Fabrication of Silicon Nanowires using Atomic Layer Deposition

Abstract

I will be using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) method to grow nanowires in 1-D in a controlled fashion using the nanoparticles as the seed. The diameter and the length of the nanowire can be precisely controlled. Nanometer size silicon quantum dots/nanoparticles are deposited on silicon dioxide substrate by thermal decomposition of silane (SiH₄) using LPCVD. By controlling the early stages of silicon film growth, silicon crystallites of nanometer size can be obtained. These nanoparticles are used as the seed to grow silicon nanowires using ALD. It is essential to adjust the experimental conditions to obtain saturated surface reactions of the precursors and self controlled growth process; optimizing the deposition temperature, pressure, flow rate of the precursors and the pulse cycle times.