Large Areas of Centimeters-Long SiC Nanowires Synthesized by Pyrolysis of a Polymer Precursor by a CVD Route

Abstract

Large areas of centimeters-long SiC nanowires have been prepared by pyrolysis of a polymer precursor with ferrocene as the catalyst by a CVD route. The nanowires, with lengths of several centimeters and diameters of 100−200 nm, were composed of single-crystal β-SiC along the ⟨111⟩ direction and were grown on ceramic substrates in areas of 11 cm × 4 cm. At high temperature, the silane fragments derived from decomposition of the polymer precursor, liquid polysilacarbosilane (l-PS), provided both the Si and C sources for the growth of the nanowires. The nanowires grew in a base-growth mode, which was governed by the Vapor−Liquid−Solid mechanism. The SiC nanowires showed good intense-current emitting properties when a pulsed high-voltage electric field was imposed.