Growth of β-SiC nanowires on Si(100) substrates by MOCVD using nickel as a catalyst

We have deposited β-SiC nanowires on nickel-covered Si(100) substrates using a single molecular precursor at deposition temperature in the range of 800–1000 °C by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method and analyzed their surface and structural characteristics. Nickel played an important role in a catalyst as growing β-SiC nanowires. Dichloromethylvinylsilane (CH 2CHSiC(CH 3)Cl 2) was used as a single molecular precursor without any carrier or bubbler gas. The working pressure was fixed at about 50 mTorr, and the growth of β-SiC nanowires was carried out for 0.5–3 h. SEM images clearly showed that straight nanowires were randomly grown on the substrate with a high density. The lengths of the nanowires were up to several micrometers and their diameters were about 30–50 nm depending on deposition temperature. In order to identify their structure and composition, analyses of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) were performed. XRD data showed a well-crystallized structure with highly oriented nanowires to (111) and (200) planes. Through TEM and EDX analyses as well as XPS study, we can suggest that as-deposited β-SiC nanowires are wrapped with very thin carbon outer layer, and the wire was grown to [111] direction with well-crystallized structure. This means that our SiC nanowires can be one of the candidate materials for both nanoelectronic device applications and a field emitter due to carbon-rich composition.