Controllable conversion of liquid silicon from high-density to low-density towards amorphous silicon nanospheres on a wafer scale

Abstract

High-density liquid (HDL) silicon can be converted via annealing in hydrogen into low-density liquid (LDL), surviving due to hydrogen protection. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) spheres on a wafer scale were achieved via an underlying transition from LDL silicon. The amorphous spheres were protected from crystallization due to the presence of hydrogen gas.