Fabrication of silicon oxide nanowires on Ni coated silicon substrate by simple heating process

Abstract

Silicon oxide nanowires may have many applications due to their electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Many methods have been reported for the synthesis of SiOx nanowires. In this paper, previously, we made Ni/SiO2/Si substrates by dry oxidation and nickel sputtering. Then, we successfully fabricated SiOx nanowires on Ni/SiO2/Si substrates with hydrogen gas using simple heating process. We figured out the best temperature and best time duration for SiOx nanowire fabrication on Ni/SiO2/Si substrate. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, field emission transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed to analyse these nanowires.