Ag-catalyzed growth of Ge nanostructures via the thermal evaporation of Ge powder

Chi-Yew Hong; Sheng-Fong Tsai; Han-Chen Chang; Wen-Tai Lin; Kuen-Hsien Wu

doi:10.1166/jnn.2010.1684

Ag-catalyzed growth of Ge nanostructures via the thermal evaporation of Ge powder

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2010 Jul;10(7):4773-6. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2010.1684.

Authors

Chi-Yew Hong¹, Sheng-Fong Tsai, Han-Chen Chang, Wen-Tai Lin, Kuen-Hsien Wu

Affiliation

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, 701, Republic of China.

PMID: 21128497
DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2010.1684

Abstract

The Ag-catalyzed growth of straight Ge nanowires (GeNWs), serrated Ge nanobelts (GeNBs), and hexagonal Ge nanotowers (GeNTs) by thermal evaporation of Ge powder at 950 degrees C in Ar was studied. The growth of GeNWs and GeNBs at 550-600 degrees C followed the top-growth mode via the vapor-solid-solid process, while that of GeNTs at 700-750 degrees C followed the bottom-growth mode via the vapor-liquid-solid process. This result shows that the growth mode of Ge nanostructures catalyzed by Ag nanoparticles is temperature-dependent. The larger size of AgGe droplets assembled at high temperatures is beneficial to the growth of GeNTs with the bottom-growth mode. In addition, the growth mechanisms of Ge nanostructures are discussed.