Structural and Optical Properties of Silicon-Carbide Nanowires Produced by the High-Temperature Carbonization of Silicon Nanostructures

Silicon-carbide (SiC) nanowire structures 40-50 nm in diameter are produced by the high-temperature carbonization of porous silicon and silicon nanowires. The SiC nanowires are studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The X-ray structural and Raman data suggest that the cubic 3C-SiC polytype is dominant in the samples under study. The shape of the infrared reflectance spectrum in the region of the reststrahlen band 800900 cm(-1) is indicative of the presence of free charge carriers. The possibility of using SiC nanowires in microelectronic, photonic, and gas-sensing devices is discussed.