Ga-Catalyzed Growth and Optical Properties of Ternary Si-ZnS Nanowires

Bulk-quantity polycrystalline ternary alloyed Si-ZnS nanowires have been successfully synthesized by one-step thermal evaporation of a mixed powder of ZnS and SiO, using metallic gallium as a catalyst. The morphology and structure of the as-synthesized ternary alloyed Si-ZnS nanowires are characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The observations reveal that the ternary alloyed Si-ZnS nanowires have the same structure with cubic ZnS or Si. X-ray energy dispersive spectrometer analysis indicates that there is remarkable Si/Zn/S variation along the Si-ZnS nanowire. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum shows that the as-synthesized Si-ZnS nanowires have two emission peaks at 355 and 685 nm, and feature the superimposed optical properties of ZnS and Si.