Nong M. Hwang

Investigation of electronic configuration and plasmon loss spectra in Au-catalyzed silicon nanowire networks

The present study investigated the effect of a silane flow rate on chemical bonding structures of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) synthesized by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. The structural and chemical bonding structures were studied by Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The peak at 500 cm−1 in Raman spectra indicated the nanocrystalline SiNWs with outer matrix of a-Si/SiO2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to study the electronic structure and plasmon energy of SiNWs. The electronic environments of core orbital spectra of Si(2p) and O(1s) have been analyzed by the binding energy between constituent atoms. The plasmon spectra from different nanowires were estimated from curve fitting techniques with varying SiH4 flow rate. The peak at 17 eV is due to the Si plasmon in core SiNWs while the peak for interstitial Au appeared at ∼10 eV.