Synthesis and Properties of the Low Resistivity TiSi2 Nanowires Grown with TiF4 Precursor

Low-resistivity TiSi2 nanowires were synthesized on silicon with TiF4 precursor and without catalysts. The growth was found to follow vapor-solid mechanism. The single crystalline nanowires are of C54-TiSi2 phase with the diameters and lengths being 20-50 nm and 1-2 micrometers, respectively. The field emission properties of the TiSi2, nanowires were measured, and the turn on voltage is 8 V/mu m when the current density attained 1 mu A/cm(2). The field enhancement factor is about 800 with the measured work function of 4.6 eV. In addition, long term stability of field emission was found. The resistivity of the TiSi2 nanowire was measured to be 30 mu Omega cm by the two-probe measurement. The metallic TiSi2 nanowires exhibited a failure current density of as high as 3 x 10(8) A/cm(2). The low resistivity, high failure current density, and high field emission stability of the TiSi2 nanowires indicate that they are potentially applicable in the interconnecting electronic architectures and silicon-based field emission devices.