Investigating and understanding the initial growth mechanisms of catalyst-free growth of 1D SiC nanostructures

The vapor-solid mechanism of 1D SiC nanostructure growth is examined. The chemical vapor deposition parameters were controlled to estimate their effects on SiC nanowhisker (NW) growth and cross-sectional microimages of the NWs were examined to identify the key factors which induce the initial NW growth. According to our careful investigation, we propose that noncatalytic NW growth is a kinetic driven process that occurs when a high density of small critically sized islands exist, which corresponds to the case of a low deposition rate and high surface diffusion.