Silicon Carbide One-dimensional Nanostructures

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

List of Acronyms

1: Properties of SiC-based One-dimensional Nanostructures

1.1. Intrinsic properties of silicon carbide

1.2. Properties of one-dimensional nanostructures

1.3. Conclusion

2: State of the Art of the Growth of SiC-1D Nanostructures

2.1. State of the art of the growth of SiC nanowires

2.2. State of the art of the growth of SiC nanotubes

2.3. State of the art of the growth of SiC-based core–shell nanowires

2.4. Conclusion

3: An Original Growth Process: The Carburization of Si Nanowires

3.1. Si nanowires

3.2. The carburization of bulk silicon

3.3. Experimental application

3.4. Growth of core–shell Si–SiC nanowires

3.5. Growth of silicon carbide nanotubes

3.6. Summary of the study of the carburization of silicon nanowires

4: SiC-Based One-dimensional Nanostructure Technologies

4.1. Top-down approach: SiC plasma etching for the production of SiC nanowires

4.2. Mechanics

4.3. Energy

4.4. Electronics

4.5. For biology

4.6. Future work

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

First published 2015 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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© ISTE Ltd 2015

The rights of Laurence Latu-Romain and Maelig Ollivier to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955862

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISSN 2051-2481 (Print)

ISSN 2051-249X (Online)

ISBN 978-1-84821-797-3

Foreword

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide bandgap semiconductor having factors of merit scaling well above those of well-established semiconductors such as silicon (Si), which became the material of choice of the 20th Century. SiC is a ceramic with very interesting mechanical properties (hardness and composite materials) and a very high thermal conductivity, just like copper. In addition, due to its chemical inertness and its ability to resist radiation damage, this compound semiconductor is an especially suitable electronic material to be used in harsh environments. Furthermore, SiC is also biocompatible, making it promising for interfacing an electronic material with biology. SiC is also very abundant in the interstellar medium and could be a key material in the route toward prebiotic life apparition in the universe. Indeed, SiC was found by Henri Moisan at the end of the 19th Century on a meteorite fallen in the Diablo Canyon, Arizona. The overall properties of SiC have triggered many advanced applications such as high-temperatures, high-power, high-frequencies devices and sensors. Finally, SiC is also an especially interesting material in nanoscience and nanotechnology, such as in the self-organization of massively parallel Si passive/active atomic lines at its surface, or of carbon nanotubes, and an excellent substrate for the epitaxial growth of high-quality graphene. At this point, it is appropriate to mention that the research programs on Si nanowires resulted in about 9,000 publications since the year 2000, while in contrast, similar research on SiC remains rather marginal with no more than 400 publications, despite the much higher performances of SiC when compared to corresponding Si nanowires – see the Introduction section.

In this context, the present book, written by Latu-Romain and Ollivier, brings novel insights in describing a very original and innovative approach to grow SiC nanotubes and nanowires. Indeed, at variance to the well-established methods to grow nanowires, the idea presented here is to grow SiC nanowires/nanotubes using Si nanowires grown through a top-to-bottom approach as an initial template. Then, selective carburization of the external surface core–shell leads to SiC growth covering the outer surface of these Si nanowires. Subsequently, the carburization process leads also to Si removal by out-diffusion, leaving only high-quality SiC nanotubes. These one-dimensional nano-objects potentially open exciting new applications not only in electronics or sensors, but also toward biology and medical applications such as selective drug delivery.

In this book, the authors start with an introduction, and then all the documents are organized into four different chapters, ending up with a conclusion. The Introduction presents the topic of interest, with a short historical background, putting issues and challenges into perspective. Chapter 1, entitled "Properties of SiC Based One-Dimensional Nanostructures, provides a thorough presentation of the SiC crystallography, describing the structure of some of the most important SiC polytypes (out of more than 170). It includes cubic 3C, hexagonal 2H, 4H and 6H, and rhomboidal 15R. They also present a general view of their physical, chemical and electronic properties, which are key aspects for understanding SiC, especially at the nanometric and subnanometric scales. Moving next to Chapter 2, entitled State of the Art of the Growth of SiC-Based One-Dimensional Nanostructures, the authors address the key points that make the central issues of their book, namely the growth techniques and challenges. The first section describes the state of the art growth of SiC nanowires. The second section is devoted to the state-of-the-art growth of SiC nanotubes, while the third and last sections move to state-of-the-art growth of SiC-based core–shell nanowires. Chapter 3 is entitled An Original Growth Process: the Carburization of Si Nanowires and presents the novel approach and key methods that have been developed to do so. It is organized in six sections, respectively, describing Si nanowires, the carburization of bulk silicon, experimental applications, the growth of core–shell Si–SiC nanowires and of SiC nanotubes, and a summary of the study of the carburization of silicon nanowires. Finally, in the last chapter, Chapter 4 entitled SiC-Based One-Dimensional Nanostructure Technologies", the authors describe some promising potential or already existing novel applications. The top-down approach using SiC plasma etching for SiC nanowires is described in the first section, while the mechanics and potentially subsequent novel composites are addressed in the second section. In the third section, energy applications, such as energy storage through super-capacitors, are envisioned, while in the fourth section, novel electronics applications, such as SiC nanowire transistor, are proposed and described. Finally, biology applications and future works are described and commented upon the fifth and six sections, respectively. In the Conclusion, the authors summarize the know-how and the subsequent results for these one-dimensional SiC nanostructures and draw perspectives toward future promising applications covering various high-tech domains of science and technology.

We can therefore envision that this book is providing a very suitable document based on sound grounds that will be especially useful for scientists and engineers performing research and developing technological applications. Furthermore, this same book will also serve as a very appropriate, pertinent and well-focused tutorial for graduate master as well as for PhD students.

Patrick SOUKIASSIAN

Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies

Alternatives, Saclay, France

and

Synchrotron SOLEIL

Saint Aubin, France

November, 2014

Introduction

Increasing communication requirements, as well as the need for processing of data or diagnostics in general, which we have experienced for several decades now, have allowed several sectors, such as microelectronics, information technology (IT) or even telecommunications and biotechnology to become strategic, globalized and recognized industrial sectors. These different technological domains have greatly benefited from scientific progress, notably in the domains of materials and microelectronics.

The discovery of semiconducting materials, for example, materials whose behavior with regard to current can be modified by adding impurities, is definitely one of the advances that allowed for the revolutionizing of most of the domains named above. Among these materials, silicon has become an emblem, to the point of becoming nearly hegemonic. Despite this, its physical properties limit its use to certain sectors such as optoelectronics, or hinder the obtaining of satisfactory results, like the low yields of solar cells, for example.

On top of the materials-related physical limitations, there are also technological limitations, when for reasons of space, yield or mobility, new technologies reach nanometric sizes. This scale change has brought new challenges for those involved in the industry and researchers, the main ones being the creation of nanometric objects and the control of the physical and chemical properties of these objects. This book fits into the general scope of this challenge.

One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures,