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Updated: May 30, 2026
Flow-assisted Dielectrophoresis: A Low Cost Method for the Fabrication of High Performance Solution-processable Nanowire Devices
Published on: December 7, 2017
Real-time observation of impurity diffusion in silicon nanowires
Vincent C Holmberg1, Katharine A Collier, Brian A Korgel
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute, Center for Nano and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.
Abstract:
Solid-state diffusion of the transition metal impurities, gold (Au), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu), in silicon (Si) nanowires was studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Compared to diffusion in a bulk crystal, Au diffusion is extremely slow when the amount of metal is limited but significantly enhanced when an unlimited supply is available. Cu and Ni diffusion leads to rapid silicide formation but slows considerably with physical encapsulation by a volume-restricting carbon shell.
