Growth Mechanism of SmB6 Nanowires Synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition: Catalyst-Assisted and Catalyst-Free

Nanomaterials

Yugui Cui¹  Shaoyun Huang¹  Yi Chu¹  Yingjie Xing¹  Hongqi Xu¹ 

[1] Beijing Key Laboratory of Quantum Devices, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, and Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;

关键词: nanowires;    synthesis;    CVD;    topological insulators;    growth mechanism;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nano9081062

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

SmB₆ nanowires, as a prototype of nanostructured topological Kondo insulator, have shown rich novel physical phenomena relating to their surface. Catalyst-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a common approach to prepare SmB₆ nanowires and Ni is the most popular catalyst used to initiate the growth of SmB₆ nanowires. Here, we study the effect of growth mechanism on the surface of SmB₆ nanowires synthesized by CVD. Two types of SmB₆ nanowires are obtained when using Ni as the catalyst. In addition to pure SmB₆ nanowires without Ni impurity, a small amount of Ni is detected on the surface of some SmB₆ nanowires by element analysis with transmission electron microscopy. In order to eliminate the possible distribution of Ni on nanowire surface, we synthesize single crystalline SmB₆ nanowires by CVD without using catalyst. The difference between catalyst-assisted and catalyst-free growth mechanism is discussed.

【 授权许可】

Unknown