Self-extrusion of Te nanowire from Si–Sb–Te thin films

A crystallized Si2Sb2Te5 thin film was observed to extrude single-crystalline [0001] oriented tellurium nanowires at room temperature. The single crystalline Te nanowires nucleation and extruded outgrowth can be greatly accelerated by electron-beam-illumination (EBI) in a transmission electron microscope by an order as high as four. The EBI-enhanced outgrowth speed of Te nanowires is a function of electron beam flux and can be described as v=k ln(J+m). This Te nanowires self-outflow phenomenon comes from a decomposition process of the Si2Sb2Te5 matrix and provides an interesting model and mechanism of the nanowires’ growth, which is distinctive to the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism.