Reversible Al Propagation in Si Ge_1- Nanowires: Implications for Electrical Contact Formation

While reversibility is a fundamental concept in thermodynamics, most reactions are not readily reversible, especially in solid-state physics. For example, thermal diffusion is a widely known concept, used among others to inject dopants into the substitutional positions in the matrix and improve device properties. Typically, such a diffusion process will create a concentration gradient extending over increasingly large regions, without possibility to reverse this effect. On the other hand, while the bottom-up growth of semiconducting nanowires is interesting, it can still be difficult to fabricate axial heterostructures with high control. In this paper, we report a thermally assisted partially reversible thermal diffusion process occurring in the solid-state reaction between an Al metal pad and a Si Ge_1- alloy nanowire observed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. The thermally assisted reaction results in the creation of a Si-rich region sandwiched between the reacted Al and unreacted Si Ge_1- part, forming an axial Al/Si/Si Ge_1- heterostructure. Upon heating or (slow) cooling, the Al metal can repeatably move in and out of the Si Ge_1- alloy nanowire while maintaining the rodlike geometry and crystallinity, allowing to fabricate and contact nanowire heterostructures in a reversible way in a single process step, compatible with current Si-based technology. This interesting system is promising for various applications, such as phase change memories in an all crystalline system with integrated contacts as well as Si/Si Ge_1- /Si heterostructures for near-infrared sensing applications.