The Preparation Of Te Nanowires By Thermal Evaporation Method

Te nanowires have been prepared successfully using the homemade simple device via the thermal evaporation method. The effective factors about the growth of Te nanowires are systematicly studied, which are experimental apparatus, source materials, evaporation temperature, heating time and catalyst etc. The suitable conditions of preparing Te nanowires have been determined on this basis. The morphologies, composition, crystal structure and growth orientation of the prepared nanowires have been examined using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The growth mechanism of nanowires were studied. The results shows as follow:Temperature is one of the critical factors for preparing the nanowires. According to the experimental conditions, the optimum temperature of preparing Te nanowires is 560℃; As the heating time is longer, the nanowire only increases in the size of length direction and the diameter and surface morphology don’t change substantially; The catalyst has a great influence on the growth of Te nanowires, and the nanowires only grow on the substrate with the Au-catalyst.The optimal condition for preparation of Te nanowires is at 560℃ for 9-12h with the Bi2Te3 source material using the growth substrate with catalyst. A large number of Te nanowires with length of several tens of microns and diameters ranging from 30-60nm have been prepared in this condition and the surface of nanowires is smooth.The detection and analysis results show that:the prepared Te nanowires are the trigonal system(t-Te single-crystalline) and the growth of Te nanowires are along the [101] direction; The growth of Te nanowires meet the VLS growth mechanism.