Abstract
Strain engineering of semiconductors is used to modulate carrier mobility, tune the energy bandgap, and drive growth of self-assembled nanostructures. Understanding strain-energy relaxation mechanisms including phase transformations, dislocation nucleation and migration, and fracturing is essential to both exploit this degree of freedom and avoid degradation of carrier lifetime and mobility, particularly in prestrained electronic devices and flexible electronics that undergo large changes in strain during operation. Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electron diffraction are utilized to identify strain-energy release mechanisms of bent diamond-cubic silicon (Si) and zinc-blende GaAs nanowires, which were elastically strained to >6% at room temperature and then annealed at an elevated temperature to activate relaxation mechanisms. High-temperature annealing of bent Si-nanowires leads to the nucleation, glide, and climb of dislocations, which align themselves to form grain boundaries, thereby reducing the strain energy. Herein, Si nanowires are reported to undergo polygonization, which is the formation of polygonal-shaped grains separated by grain boundaries consisting of aligned edge dislocations. Furthermore, strain is shown to drive dopant diffusion. In contrast to the behavior of Si, GaAs nanowires release strain energy by forming nanocracks in regions of tensile strain due to the weakening of As-bonds. These insights into the relaxation behavior of highly strained crystals can inform the design of nanoelectronic devices and provide guidance on mitigating degradation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3730-3738 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | ACS nano |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 26 2019 |
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Keywords
- dislocation
- nanocrack
- nanowire
- plastic deformation
- polygonization
- strain
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Engineering(all)
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
Cite this
}
Strain-Energy Release in Bent Semiconductor Nanowires Occurring by Polygonization or Nanocrack Formation. / Sun, Zhiyuan; Huang, Chunyi; Guo, Jinglong; Dong, Jason T.; Klie, Robert F.; Lauhon, Lincoln James; Seidman, David N.
In: ACS nano, Vol. 13, No. 3, 26.03.2019, p. 3730-3738.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Strain-Energy Release in Bent Semiconductor Nanowires Occurring by Polygonization or Nanocrack Formation
AU - Sun, Zhiyuan
AU - Huang, Chunyi
AU - Guo, Jinglong
AU - Dong, Jason T.
AU - Klie, Robert F.
AU - Lauhon, Lincoln James
AU - Seidman, David N
PY - 2019/3/26
Y1 - 2019/3/26
N2 - Strain engineering of semiconductors is used to modulate carrier mobility, tune the energy bandgap, and drive growth of self-assembled nanostructures. Understanding strain-energy relaxation mechanisms including phase transformations, dislocation nucleation and migration, and fracturing is essential to both exploit this degree of freedom and avoid degradation of carrier lifetime and mobility, particularly in prestrained electronic devices and flexible electronics that undergo large changes in strain during operation. Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electron diffraction are utilized to identify strain-energy release mechanisms of bent diamond-cubic silicon (Si) and zinc-blende GaAs nanowires, which were elastically strained to >6% at room temperature and then annealed at an elevated temperature to activate relaxation mechanisms. High-temperature annealing of bent Si-nanowires leads to the nucleation, glide, and climb of dislocations, which align themselves to form grain boundaries, thereby reducing the strain energy. Herein, Si nanowires are reported to undergo polygonization, which is the formation of polygonal-shaped grains separated by grain boundaries consisting of aligned edge dislocations. Furthermore, strain is shown to drive dopant diffusion. In contrast to the behavior of Si, GaAs nanowires release strain energy by forming nanocracks in regions of tensile strain due to the weakening of As-bonds. These insights into the relaxation behavior of highly strained crystals can inform the design of nanoelectronic devices and provide guidance on mitigating degradation.
AB - Strain engineering of semiconductors is used to modulate carrier mobility, tune the energy bandgap, and drive growth of self-assembled nanostructures. Understanding strain-energy relaxation mechanisms including phase transformations, dislocation nucleation and migration, and fracturing is essential to both exploit this degree of freedom and avoid degradation of carrier lifetime and mobility, particularly in prestrained electronic devices and flexible electronics that undergo large changes in strain during operation. Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electron diffraction are utilized to identify strain-energy release mechanisms of bent diamond-cubic silicon (Si) and zinc-blende GaAs nanowires, which were elastically strained to >6% at room temperature and then annealed at an elevated temperature to activate relaxation mechanisms. High-temperature annealing of bent Si-nanowires leads to the nucleation, glide, and climb of dislocations, which align themselves to form grain boundaries, thereby reducing the strain energy. Herein, Si nanowires are reported to undergo polygonization, which is the formation of polygonal-shaped grains separated by grain boundaries consisting of aligned edge dislocations. Furthermore, strain is shown to drive dopant diffusion. In contrast to the behavior of Si, GaAs nanowires release strain energy by forming nanocracks in regions of tensile strain due to the weakening of As-bonds. These insights into the relaxation behavior of highly strained crystals can inform the design of nanoelectronic devices and provide guidance on mitigating degradation.
KW - dislocation
KW - nanocrack
KW - nanowire
KW - plastic deformation
KW - polygonization
KW - strain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062453628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85062453628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsnano.9b01231
DO - 10.1021/acsnano.9b01231
M3 - Article
C2 - 30807693
AN - SCOPUS:85062453628
VL - 13
SP - 3730
EP - 3738
JO - ACS Nano
JF - ACS Nano
SN - 1936-0851
IS - 3
ER -