Composition Controlled Synthesis and Raman Analysis of Ge-Rich SixGe1–x Nanowires

Abstract

Here, we report the synthesis of SixGe1–x nanowires with x values ranging from 0 to 0.5 using bulk nucleation and growth from larger Ga droplets. Room temperature Raman spectroscopy is shown to determine the composition of the as-synthesized SixGe1–x nanowires. Analysis of peak intensities observed for Ge (near 300 cm–1) and the Si-Ge alloy (near 400 cm–1) allowed accurate estimation of composition compared to that based on the absolute peak positions. The results showed that the fraction of Ge in the resulting SixGe1–x alloy nanowires is controlled by the vapor phase composition of Ge.