The nanoinstability of single crystal Si nanowire under focused electron beamirradiation was in-situ investigated at room temperature by transmissionelectron microscopy technique. It was observed that the Si nanowire amorphizedpreferentially from the surface towards the center with the increasing ofelectron dose. In contrast, in the center of the Si nanowire the amorphizationseemed non-uniform and much more difficult accompanying with rotation ofcrystal grains and compression of d-spacing. Such a selectively preferentialamorphization as athermally induced by the electron beam irradiation can bewell accounted for by our proposed concepts of nanocurvature effect andenergetic beam-induced athermal activation effect, while the classical knock-onmechanism and the electron beam heating effect seem inadequate to explain theseprocesses. Furthermore, the findings revealed the difference of amorphizationbetween Si nanowire and Si film under focused electron beam irradiation. Also,the findings have important implications for nanostability and nanoprocessingof future Si nanowire-based devices.
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