Self-Oriented Single Crystalline Silicon Nanorod Arrays through a Chemical Vapor Reaction Route

Self-oriented single crystalline Si nanorod (SiNR) arrays have been successfully prepared on silicon (111) substrate via a vacuum chemical vapor reaction (CVR) process in a hermetic quartz tube. Monoclinic Ag₂Te obtained by prior chemical reaction of evaporated tellurium with silver film on Si substrate was used as the catalyst for the formation of SiNR arrays. The preferred growth of the nanorods along the [100] direction resulted in a triangular orthographic projection network on the Si (111) surface. A modified vapor−liquid−solid (VLS) mechanism for the growth of SiNR arrays has been proposed on the basis of experimental results.