Growth of straight, atomically perfect, highly metallic silicon nanowires with chiral asymmetry

Nano Lett. 2008 Jan;8(1):271-5. doi: 10.1021/nl072591y. Epub 2007 Dec 20.

Abstract

In the quest of nano-objects for future electronics, silicon nanowires could possibly take over carbon nanotubes. Here we show the growth by self-organization of straight, massively parallel silicon nanowires having a width of 1.6 nm, which are atomically perfect and highly metallic conductors. Surprisingly, these silicon nanowires display a strong symmetry breaking across their widths with two chiral species that self-assemble in large left-handed and right-handed magnetic-like domains.