Highly oriented multiple boron nanowire nanojunctions with unilateral feather- like morphology were first successfully prepared using a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. The branched boron nano-feathers always nucleate and grow on the same sidewall of the stems, and align in parallel to form multiple T- and/or Y-type nanojunctions. The diameters of the branches and the stems are in the range of 20—40 and 60—80 nm, respectively. The thinner branches and thicker stems of the boron nanowires self-assembled into large-scale, highly ordered arrays on various substrates. During the formation and self-assembly of the arrays, no template or catalyst was needed. We believe that the approach presented here can be used to fabricate heterostructures with bottom-up assembly of a wide variety of one-dimensional nanostructures via the rational design of targets and the proper control of the experimental conditions.
CAO Limin1,2, ZHANG Ze2 & WANG Wenkui1,2 1. Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
One-dimensionally nanostructured materials, such as nanowires and nanotubes, are the smallest dimensional structures for efficient transport of electrons and excitons, and are therefore critical building blocks for nanoscale electronic and mechanical devices. In this paper, boron nanowires with uniform diameters from 20 to 80 nm were synthesized by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of pure boron powder and B2O3 powder mixtures in argon atmosphere. The boron nanowires produced stand vertically on the substrate surface to form well-ordered arrays over large areas with self- organized arrangements without involvement of any template and patterned catalyst. The high-density boron nanowires are parallel to each other and well distributed, forming highly ordered and uniform arrays. A more interesting and unique feature of the boron nanowires is that most of their tips are flat rather than hemispherical in morphologies. Detailed studies on its structure and composition indicate that boron nanowires are amorphous. Boron nanowire appears as a new member in the family of one-dimensional nanostructures. Considering the unique properties of boron-rich solids and other nanostructures, it is reasonable to expect that the boron nanowires will display some exceptional and interesting properties. A vapor-cluster-solid (VCS) mechanism was proposed to explain the growth of boron nanowires based on our experimental observations.
CAO Limin1,2, ZHANG Ze2 & WANG Wenkui1,2 1. Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology and College of Materials Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
