Direct growth of β-FeSi2 nanowires with infrared emission, ferromagnetism at room temperature and high magnetoresistance via a spontaneous chemical reaction method

Abstract

Self-catalyzed β-FeSi2 nanowires with a high aspect ratio have been synthesized by a spontaneous chemical vapor transport and reaction method. The as-synthesized single-crystalline β-FeSi2 nanowires exhibit photoluminescence at a wavelength of 1.54 μm, which is suitable for Si-based optical communication, at room temperature. The conductivity of a single-stem β-FeSi2 nanowire was found to increase with decreasing diameter. The room temperature ferromagnetism and high magnetoresistance performance of 6% at 200 K indicates that β-FeSi2 nanowires are potentially applicable for spintronic nanodevices.