Synthesis and characterization of SiC/SiO2 nanowires grown on Si (100) substrate

Large scale SiC/SiO
2
nanowires have been synthesized on Si (100) by the reaction of methane with silica using iron as catalyst. The growth time was 10 mins and the growth temperature was around 1,250°C in a normal atmospheric pressure. Detailed investigation with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersed X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirm that the SiC/SiO
2
nanowires consist of a uniform cubic β-SiC core and an amorphous silica shell. The SiC/SiO
2
nanowires have a diameter about 30∼50 nm and length about 10 µm. Analysis of SEM and TEM results indicated that the nanowires have a large growth rate than that reported. The large growth rate may owe to two reasons: One may be attributed to plentiful carbon atoms (Methane as the carbon resource can be completely decomposed at a temperature 1250°C) and the other may be the hydrogen gas supplied at the growth process.