Massive transfer of vertically aligned Si nanowire array onto alien substrates and their characteristics
Journal
Applied Surface Science
Journal Volume
255
Journal Issue
20
Pages
8566-8570
Date Issued
2009
Author(s)
Abstract
Si nanowires (NWs) are promising materials for future electronic, photovoltaic, and sensor applications. So far the Si NWs are mainly formed on particular substrates or at high temperatures, greatly limiting their application flexibility. Here we report a low temperature process for forming and massively transferring vertically aligned Si NWs on alien substrates with a large density of about (3-5) × 10 7 NWs/mm 2 . The X-ray diffraction spectrum reveals that the transferred NWs exhibit almost the same crystal property as the bulk Si. Our investigation further shows that the transferred NWs have exceptional optical characteristics. The transferred Si NWs of 12.14 μm exhibit the transmittance as low as 0.3% in the near infrared region and 0.07% in the visible region. The extracted absorption coefficient of Si NWs in the near infrared region is about 3 × 10 3 cm -1 , over 30 times larger than that of the bulk Si. Because of the low temperature process, it enables a large variety of alien substrates such as glass and plastics to be used. In addition, the exceptional properties of the transferred NWs offer potential applications for photovoltaic, photo-detectors, sensors, and flexible electronics. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Optical absorption; Silicon nanowire; Transfer; X-ray diffraction
SDGs
Other Subjects
Flexible electronics; Infrared devices; Light absorption; Nanowires; Temperature; X ray diffraction; Absorption co-efficient; Low- temperature process; Near infrared region; Optical characteristics; Sensor applications; Silicon nanowires; Transfer; X-ray diffraction spectrum; Substrates
Type
journal article