Enhanced oxidation of nanoscale in particles at the interface with a Si nanowire

Abstract

We investigate the room-temperature oxidation of In nanoparticles at the tips of Si nanowires. This geometry allows a direct comparison of oxidation at the gas-indium interface and the interface to the Si nanowire. While the In 2O 3 at the free surface is polycrystalline with small limiting thickness, the oxidation at the nanoscale interface to Si gives rise to single crystalline In 2O 3 with a tenfold-enhanced thickness. Our results demonstrate interfacial modifications of oxidation at the nanoscale, which need to be considered in scaling electronic devices, and which can become a route for forming high-quality semiconductor-oxide interfaces in nanostructured materials, such as nanowires. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.