Single-crystalline chromium silicide nanowires and their physical properties

Han-Fu Hsu; Ping-Chen Tsai; Kuo-Chang Lu

doi:10.1186/s11671-015-0776-8

Single-crystalline chromium silicide nanowires and their physical properties

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2015 Feb 6:10:50. doi: 10.1186/s11671-015-0776-8. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Han-Fu Hsu¹, Ping-Chen Tsai¹, Kuo-Chang Lu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Rd, Tainan, 701 Taiwan.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Rd, Tainan, 701 Taiwan ; Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Rd, Tainan, 701 Taiwan.

Abstract

In this work, chromium disilicide nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes on Si (100) substrates with hydrous chromium chloride (CrCl3 · 6H2O) as precursors. Processing parameters, including the temperature of Si (100) substrates and precursors, the gas flow rate, the heating time, and the different flow gas of reactions were varied and studied; additionally, the physical properties of the chromium disilicide nanowires were measured. It was found that single-crystal CrSi2 nanowires with a unique morphology were grown at 700°C, while single-crystal Cr5Si3 nanowires were grown at 750°C in reducing gas atmosphere. The crystal structure and growth direction were identified, and the growth mechanism was proposed as well. This study with magnetism, photoluminescence, and field emission measurements demonstrates that CrSi2 nanowires are attractive choices for future applications in magnetic storage, photovoltaic, and field emitters.

Keywords: CVD; Chromium silicide nanowires; Ferromagnetic property; Field emission.