Triangular prism-shaped p-type 6H-SiC nanowires

Abstract

We report, for the first time, the growth of p-type 6H-SiC nanowires with a unique triangular prism shape via the pyrolysis of polymeric precursors. The resultant wires were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The triangular prism-shaped SiC nanowires are averagely sized at ∼700 nm in edge widths with lengths of up to tens of microns. The wires are single-crystalline with 1 at% Al dopants and grown along the direction of [102]. A mechanism based on a typical vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) process was discussed for the growth of the 6H-SiC wires. Intense visible photoluminescence was observed with two respective strong emission peaks centered at 2.4 and 3.1 eV, suggesting that the p-type 6H-SiC wires could be useful in the fabrication of optoelectronic nanodevices.