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Diameter-dependent growth direction of epitaxial silicon nanowires.

We found that silicon nanowires grown epitaxially on Si (100) via the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism change their growth direction from 111 to 110 at a crossover diameter of approximately 20 nm. A model is proposed for the explanation of this phenomenon. We suggest that the interplay of the liquid-solid interfacial energy with the silicon surface energy expressed in terms of an edge tension is responsible for the change of the growth direction. The value of the edge tension is estimated by the product of the interfacial thickness with the surface energy of silicon. For large diameters, the direction with the lowest interfacial energy is dominant, whereas for small diameters the surface energy of the silicon nanowire determines the preferential growth direction.