The Influence of B2H6 on the Growth of Silicon Nanowire

The un-doped and boron-doped silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were grown via vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism by low pressure chemical deposition (LPCVD). The diameters of un-doped and boron-doped SiNWs varied from 18.5 to 75.3 nm and 26.6 to 66.1 nm, respectively. The critical growth temperature of boron-doped SiNWs is 10°C lower than that of un-doped ones and the diameters of the boron-doped SiNWs is always larger than that of the un-doped ones under different growth temperatures. This is because that the introduction of diborane enhanced the dissociation of SiH4 which determines the growth process of SiNW. A growth process of silicon nanowire is proposed to describe the influence of B2H6.