Laser ablation fabricated nano-composite of metal silicide crystallines in silicon wire

摘要

Silicon nanowires containing a high density of copper atoms were prepared by laser ablation of Si/metal mixture targets at 1200 °C in argon gas flow. Copper atoms can gather in Si nanowires and precipitate into copper silicide nanocrystals distributed alone the wire axis. The diameters of the copper silicide nanocrystals increase with that of the host nanowire. The possible growth process of the composite nanowires was proposed.