Growth of Single‐Crystalline Wurtzite Aluminum Nitride Nanotips with a Self‐Selective Apex Angle |
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Authors: | SC Shi CF Chen S Chattopadhyay ZH Lan KH Chen LC Chen |
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Affiliation: | S. C. Shi,C. F. Chen,S. Chattopadhyay,Z. H. Lan,K. H. Chen,L. C. Chen |
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Abstract: | Single‐crystalline, hexagonal aluminum nitride nanotips are fabricated using a vapor‐transport and condensation process (VTCP) on silicon substrates with or without a catalyst layer. The resultant tips have very sharp nanoscale apexes (~1 nm), while their bases and lengths are up to hundreds of nanometers wide and several micrometers long, respectively. It has been demonstrated that the thickness of the gold‐catalyst layer plays a critical role in controlling the size of the tip; in addition, a catalyst‐free growth mode has been observed, which results in lesser control over the nanotip morphology. Nevertheless, a remarkably narrow distribution of the apex angle of the nanotips, regardless of whether or not a catalyst was used in the VTCP, has been obtained. Compared with the commonly observed ridge and pyramid structures, the nanotips produced by VTCP have higher angles (~81°) between the tilted (221) and the basal (001) planes that encase it. A mechanism for this self‐selective apex angle in aluminum nitride nanotip growth is proposed. |
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Keywords: | Aluminium nitride Nanostructures inorganic |
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