An In-Plane Solid-Liquid-Solid Growth Mode for Self-Avoiding Lateral Silicon Nanowires

We report an in-plane solid-liquid-solid (IPSLS) mode for obtaining self-avoiding lateral silicon nanowires (SiNW) in a reacting-gas-free annealing process, where the growth of SiNWs is guided by liquid indium drops that transform the surrounding $a\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}\mathrm{Si}\ensuremath{\mathbin:}\mathrm{H}$ matrix into crystalline SiNWs. The SiNWs can be $\ensuremath{\sim}\mathrm{mm}$ long, with the smallest diameter down to $\ensuremath{\sim}22\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}$. A high growth rate of $>{10}^{2}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}/\mathrm{s}$ and rich evolution dynamics are revealed in a real-time in situ scanning electron microscopy observation. A qualitative growth model is proposed to account for the major features of this IPSLS SiNW growth mode.