Nanowires: a new pathway to nanotechnology-based applications

B Salhi; M K Hossain; A W Mukhaimer; F A Al-Sulaiman

doi:10.1007/s10832-016-0037-y

Nanowires: a new pathway to nanotechnology-based applications

J Electroceram. 2016;37(1):34-49. doi: 10.1007/s10832-016-0037-y. Epub 2016 May 7.

Authors

B Salhi¹, M K Hossain¹, A W Mukhaimer¹, F A Al-Sulaiman^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ 1Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy (CoRERE), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, 31261 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
² 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, 31261 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The synthesis and the characterisation of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) have recently attracted great attention due to their potential applications in electronics and photonics. As yet, there are no practical uses of nanowires, except for research purposes, but certain properties and characteristics of nanowires look very promising for the future. Graphical abstractSemiconductor nanowires are attracting more and more interest for their applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The characteristic of the nanowires is their geometry with a diameter in the range of a few nanometers and a length far greater than their diameter. The structural defects often lead to mechanical defects. By reducing the number of defects per unit length, decreasing the lateral dimensions, crystalline nanowires are expected to be more resistant than the solid. Recently nanowires are attracting intense interest for solar energy conversion. In this review, we summarize the different methods of nanowires production and their applications. Special focus will be kept on silicon nanowires.

Keywords: Nanowires; Semiconductors; Silicon.