Self-Organized Growth of Ge Nanowires from Ni−Cu Bulk Alloys

Abstract

Ge nanowires are grown on Cu−Ni bulk alloys without the preparation of well-defined metal catalysts at the nanometer scale employing GeH4 precursor. GeH4 precursor selectively and catalytically decomposes into Cu within the Ni−Cu matrix and forms Cu3Ge nanocrystals in a self-organized manner. Subsequently, the decomposed Ge precipitates out from these Cu3Ge nanocrystals to crystallize into Ge nanowires.