| Nanotechnology has the promise to affect many areas of study including structural, materials, biological, and electrical sensors and circuits. In this presentation, fabrication routes to growing whiskers and nanowires of various materials will be presented. The materials investigated include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium antimonide (InSb), a clathrate material Sr 8Ga16Ge30, and germanium (Ge). The experiments were designed to utilize the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism, where a metal catalyst is used to mitigate the growth of the nanowires. The results for germanium, however, show a strong enhancement of growth upon the exposure of the samples to air while at the growth temperature. The role of oxide assisted (OA) growth in combination with the VLS mechanism will be discussed.; Nanowires of GaAs, InSb, and Sr8Ga16Ge30 showed compositions that were deficient in the more volatile elements. Volume confinement studies will also be presented for the clathrate material.; Growth of germanium dioxide (GeO2) whiskers and nanowires was found to be highly selective to the locations of the metal catalyst (gold). Examples of site specific growth of the GeO2 wires will be presented to show nanobridges on silicon substrates, and nanowire bundles inside tapered micropipette structures. The growth technique is relatively simple, and applicable for scaleup procedures. Images of the whiskers and nanowires were taken with SEM and TEM. |
