Synthesis and mechanism of single-crystalline beta-SiC nanowire arrays on a 6H-SiC substrate

The single-crystalline cubic-silicon carbide (beta-SiC) nanowire (NW) arrays on a 6H-SiC substrate (0001) were synthesized via a simple chemical vapor reaction (CVR) approach at 1250 degrees C by using Ni as the catalyst. The obtained nanostructures were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The results indicate that the obtained arrays are high purity beta-SiC single crystals aligned along the [111] direction. In order to explain the growth process of the beta-SiC nanowire arrays on the 6H-SiC substrate, a reasonable quasi-homogeneous substrate vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism is proposed.