Silicon nano-wires fabricated by thermal evaporation of silicon wafer

Thin silicon nano-wires (SiNWs) with a diameter of ∼10–20 nm were fabricated by a simple thermal evaporation of silicon wafer at 1523 K. The gold produced by an electrochemical method was covered on the wafer surface as catalyst. It was found that the SiNWs are amorphous and its Raman peak shifted down maybe due to the effect of laser heating and quantum confinement. Finally, a temperature gradient growth model is suggested to explain the growth direction of SiNWs.