Semiconductor nanowires: Controlled growth and thermal properties

This dissertation presents an experimental study of the controlled growth of semiconductor nanowires and their thermophysical properties. The synthesis of nanowires was based on the well-known Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) mechanism in which the growth of nanowire is initiated by a nanosized liquid droplet. The prepared nanowires are single-crystalline with certain preferred growth direction. Nanowires with different compositions have been synthesized, including Si, Ge, boron and MgB₂. The control of nanowire composition, diameter and orientation has also been achieved. In addition, a Pulsed Laser Ablation-Chemical Vapor Deposition (PLA-CVD) hybrid process was developed to synthesize Si/SiGe longitudinally superlattice nanowires.; The thermal conductivity of individual pure Si nanowire and Si/SiGe nanowire was measured using a microfabricated suspended device over a temperature range of 20–320 K. The thermal conductivities of individual 22, 37, 56, and 115 nm diameter single crystalline intrinsic Si nanowires were much lower than the bulk value due to the strong phonon boundary scattering. Except for the 22 nm diameter nanowire, theoretical predictions using a modified Callaway model fit the experimental data very well. The data for the 22 nm diameter wire suggest that changes in phonon dispersion due to confinement can cause additional thermal conductivity reduction. The Si/SiGe superlattice nanowires with diameters of 83 run and 58 nm were also measured. Their thermal conductivities are smaller than pure Si nanowire with similar diameter, as well as Si/SiGe superlattice thin film with comparable period. Both the alloying scattering and the boundary scattering are believed to contribute to this reduction.; Size dependent melting-recrystallization study of the carbon-sheathed semiconductor Ge nanowires was carried out in in-situ high temperature transmission electron microscope (TEM). Significant depression in melting temperature with decreasing size of the nanowires as well as large hysteresis during the melting-recrystallization cycle have been observed. The thermal behaviors of these nanowires greatly facilitate their in-situ manipulation, including cutting, interconnection as well as welding to form nanowire junctions.