Wide Bandgap Semiconductors - Nanowires of p- and n-type Silicon Carbide

ABSTRACTMonocrystalline nanowires of cubic silicon carbide were synthesized using a combined sol-gel and carbothermal reduction process in which tetraethoxysilane was used as primary sili-con and sucrose as carbon source. The diameters of the as-grown nanowires varied depending on process parameters from several tens to several hundreds nanometers, whereas the length of the wires was located in the millimetre region. By precisely controlling the atomic ratio of Si / C, silicon carbide nano wires were synthesized exclusively and pure without the presence of resid-ual carbon or unwanted silica, thus leads to semi-insulating behaviour. Supported by their consis-tence the silicon carbide micro or nano wires can be processed to textile or felt structures and are therefore usable for many applications such as for fireproof clothing, high temperature or chemi-cal filters and composite materials. Additionally during sol-gel synthesis the silicon carbide mi-cro / nano wires were easily doped to achieve p- or n-conduction, guiding to new applications in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors. The structure of 3C-SiC micro and nano wires was determined using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The electronic properties were studied using elec-tron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, Hall effect and current-voltage measurements.