Fabrication of Si3N4Nanocrystals and Nanowires Using PECVD

Abstract

Si3N4nanowires and nanocrystals were prepared on Si substrates with or without Fe catalyst using silane (SiH4) and nitrogen (N2) as reactive gases through plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology. With Fe catalyst,Si3N4nanowires were developed, indicating that Fe catalyst played a role forSi3N4molecules directionally depositing into strings. The density of the nanowires is closely related to the density of Fe catalyst. When the density of Fe ions on the substrate was decreased remarkably, a smooth superlongSi3N4nanowire with 12 μm in length was fabricated. Having analyzed the growth mechanism, a growth model forSi3N4nanowires was developed. The growth ofSi3N4nanocrystallines was attributed to be a vapor-solid (V-S) deposition process.