Chun Wei Huang

The influence of surface oxide on the growth of metal/semiconductor nanowires

We report the critical effects of oxide on the growth of nanostructures through silicide formation. Under an in situ ultrahigh vacuum transmission electron microscope, it is observed from the conversion of Si nanowires into the metallic PtSi grains epitaxially through controlled reactions between lithographically defined Pt pads and Si nanowires. With oxide, instead of contact area, single crystal PtSi grains start forming either near the center between two adjacent pads or from the ends of Si nanowires, resulting in the heterostructure formation of Si/PtSi/Si. Without oxide, transformation from Si into PtSi begins at the contact area between them, resulting in the heterostructure formation of PtSi/Si/PtSi. The nanowire heterostructures have an atomically sharp interface with epitaxial relationships of Si(20-2)//PtSi(10-1) and Si[111]//PtSi[111]. Additionally, it has been observed that the existence of oxide significantly affects not only the growth position but also the growth behavior and the growth rate by two orders of magnitude. Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to support our experimental results and the proposed growth mechanisms. In addition to fundamental science, the significance of the study matters for future processing techniques in nanotechnology and related applications as well.

Dynamic observation of phase transformation behaviors in indium(iii) selenide nanowire based phase change memory

Phase change random access memory (PCRAM) has been extensively investigated for its potential applications in next-generation nonvolatile memory. In this study, indium(III) selenide (In2Se3) was selected due to its high resistivity ratio and lower programming current. Au/In2Se3-nanowire/Au phase change memory devices were fabricated and measured systematically in an in situ transmission electron microscope to perform a RESET/SET process under pulsed and dc voltage swept mode, respectively. During the switching, we observed the dynamic evolution of the phase transformation process. The switching behavior resulted from crystalline/amorphous change and revealed that a long pulse width would induce the amorphous or polycrystalline state by different pulse amplitudes, supporting the improvement of the writing speed, retention, and endurance of PCRAM.

Direct observation of melting behaviors at the nanoscale under electron beam and heat to form hollow nanostructures

We report the melting behaviours of ZnO nanowire by heating ZnO-Al(2)O(3) core-shell heterostructures to form Al(2)O(3) nanotubes in an in situ ultrahigh vacuum transmission electron microscope (UHV-TEM). When the ZnO-Al(2)O(3) core-shell nanowire heterostructures were annealed at 600 °C under electron irradiation, the amorphous Al(2)O(3) shell became single crystalline and then the ZnO core melted. The average vanishing rate of the ZnO core was measured to be 4.2 nm s(-1). The thickness of the Al(2)O(3) nanotubes can be precisely controlled by the deposition process. Additionally, the inner geometry of nanotubes can be defined by the initial ZnO core. The result shows a promising method to obtain the biocompatible Al(2)O(3) nanotubes, which may be applied in drug delivery, biochemistry and resistive switching random access memory (ReRAM).

Single-crystalline δ-Ni2Si nanowires with excellent physical properties

In this article, we report the synthesis of single-crystalline nickel silicide nanowires (NWs) via chemical vapor deposition method using NiCl2·6H2O as a single-source precursor. Various morphologies of δ-Ni2Si NWs were successfully acquired by controlling the growth conditions. The growth mechanism of the δ-Ni2Si NWs was thoroughly discussed and identified with microscopy studies. Field emission measurements show a low turn-on field (4.12 V/μm), and magnetic property measurements show a classic ferromagnetic characteristic, which demonstrates promising potential applications for field emitters, magnetic storage, and biological cell separation.

Real Time Observation of the Formation of Hollow Nanostructures through Solid State Reactions

We demonstrate the formation of hollow nickel germanide nanostructures of Ni-Ge core-shell nanoparticles by solid state reactions. The structural evolutions of nickel germanide hollow nanostructures have been investigated in real-time ultrahigh vacuum transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM). Annealed above 450 °C, the nonequilibrium interdiffusion of core and shell species occurred at the interface; thus, Ni germanide hollow nanostructures were formed by solid state reactions involving the Kirkendall effect. In addition, the different hollow nanostructures formed from different core diameters of Ni-Ge core-shell nanoparticles have been studied. Also, we propose the mechanism with effects of the size and annealing duration on the solid state reactions based on the Kirkendall effect.

A solid-state cation exchange reaction to form multiple metal oxide heterostructure nanowires

Metal oxide nanostructures have been investigated extensively due to their wide range of physical properties; zinc oxide is one of the most promising materials. It exhibits fascinating functional properties and various types of morphologies. In particular, ZnO heterostructures have attracted great attention because their performance can be modified and further improved by the addition of other materials. In this study, we successfully transformed ZnO nanowires (NWs) into multiple ZnO/Al2O3 heterostructure NWs via a solid-state cation exchange reaction. The experiment was carried out in situ via an ultrahigh vacuum transmission electron microscope (UHV-TEM), which was equipped with a video recorder. Moreover, we analyzed the structure and composition of the heterostructure NWs by Cs-corrected STEM equipped with EDS. Based on these experimental results, we inferred a cation exchange reaction ion path model. Additionally, we investigated the defects that appeared after the cation reaction, which resulted from the remaining zinc ions. These multiple heterostructure ZnO/Al2O3 NWs exhibited excellent UV sensing sensitivity and efficiency.

Formation of In2O3 nanorings on Si substrates

A new approach to form the In2O3 nanorings (NRs) has been proven by tailoring the difference between property of metal and metal oxide. The formation process of the In2O3 NRs is proposed to be resulted form a subtle competition between the oxidation and evaporation of indium at the rim and center, respectively. Patterned In2O3 NRs have been grown on (001) Si substrates in combination with nanosphere lithography. The size and morphology of the NRs can be controlled by the size of polystyrene nanospheres and the thickness of indium layer. The optical property measurements showed that the In2O3 NRs are sensitive in absorption and emission of light between 600 and 622 nm in wavelength. The patterned In2O3 NRs on silicon are advantageous for fabricating optical-response photonic devices at the desired locations and direct integration to the silicon-based photonic devices with current processing technology.

Nickel/Platinum Dual Silicide Axial Nanowire Heterostructures with Excellent Photosensor Applications

Transition metal silicide nanowires (NWs) have attracted increasing attention as they possess advantages of both silicon NWs and transition metals. Over the past years, there have been reported with efforts on one silicide in a single silicon NW. However, the research on multicomponent silicides in a single silicon NW is still rare, leading to limited functionalities. In this work, we successfully fabricated β-Pt2Si/Si/θ-Ni2Si, β-Pt2Si/θ-Ni2Si, and Pt, Ni, and Si ternary phase axial NW heterostructures through solid state reactions at 650 °C. Using in situ transmission electron microscope (in situ TEM), the growth mechanism of silicide NW heterostructures and the diffusion behaviors of transition metals were systematically studied. Spherical aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (Cs-corrected STEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to analyze the phase structure and composition of silicide NW heterostructures. Moreover, electrical and photon sensing properties for the silicide nanowire heterostructures demonstrated promising applications in nano-optoeletronic devices. We found that Ni, Pt, and Si ternary phase nanowire heterostructures have an excellent infrared light sensing property which is absent in bulk Ni2Si or Pt2Si. The above results would benefit the further understanding of heterostructured nano materials.