Results on the growth of Si and Ge NWs are first presented. The NWs length, size, spacing, facet morphology and their tapering angle are determined in real time with X-ray techniques. Special attention was paid to the very early stage of growth where changes in the shape of the AuSi liquid droplet were clearly observed. We also found clues indicating the presence of a metastable AuGe phase at the catalyst-substrate interface, the formation of which may be crucial to the sub-eutectic growth of Ge NWs.

Strain relaxation in Si-Ge core-shell NWs is presented next. The composition and strain were determined in situ as a function of the Ge overgrowth amount and of the annealing time, using anomalous X-ray scattering techniques. Their dependence on the NW size and on the shell growth temperature was also studied.

Finally, results on the in situ bending of as-grown NWs are shown. The bending was induced by depositing a second material on one side of the NWs. The strain and stress were determined by a combination of Bragg peak tracking, intensity simulation plus fitting and classic elasticity calculations. The bending induced by Ge deposition at 220°C is found to be mainly driven by the misfit stress, which scales almost linearly with Ge film thickness. On the other hand, the bending induced by Ge deposition at RT is found to be mainly driven by the surface stress, which evolves gradually from tensile to compressive for larger Ge thickness. A new technique was also devised which makes it possible to follow qualitatively the bending process. The NWs were seen dancing back and forth with increasing amount of deposition as revealed by real time stationary measurements with a 2D detector.

Contact : carmelo.castagna@cea.fr