Mechanical strain in the structure of an array of silicon nanowires grown on a silicon substrate

• Published in: Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics
• Date: 2019
• Main Authors: Klimovskaya, A.I., Shanina, B.D., Nikolenko, A.S., Lytvyn, P.M., Kalashnyk, Yu.Yu., Strelchuk, V.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Інститут фізики напівпровідників імені В.Є. Лашкарьова НАН України 2019
• Subjects: Hetero- and low-dimensional structures
• Online Access: https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/215498
• Journal Title: Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Cite this: Mechanical strain in the structure of an array of silicon nanowires grown on a silicon substrate / A.I. Klimovskaya, B.D. Shanina, A.S. Nikolenko, P.M. Lytvyn, Yu.Yu. Kalashnyk, V.V. Strelchuk // Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. — 2019. — Т. 22, № 3. — С. 293-298. — Бібліогр.: 23 назв. — англ.

We present experimental research on mechanical strains in the structure consisting of an array of silicon nanowires grown using the metal-enhanced CVD technique on boron-doped Si(111) and Si(100) substrates. Using the electron beam induced current on a cleaved substrate, electron spin resonance, and confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy, we found that growth of silicon nanowires on a native (silicon) substrate gives rise to a strain both of the substrate and the grown nanowires, too. An occurrence of the strain in the substrate was revealed by the initiation of the electron spin resonance signal from boron atoms, which is not usually resolved in unstressed silicon due to the complex energy structure at the top of the valence band. Furthermore, the strain of the substrate was proved additionally by observation of the spatial dependence of the current induced by the electron beam on a cleaved substrate, and by the spectral shift of the Raman peak related to 3С-Si near the interface “substrate – array of nanowires”. Mechanical strain in the nanowires was more pronounced in the Raman spectra, which also revealed their complex crystal structure consisting of cubic and hexagonal phases of silicon. A model of the strain rise is discussed.