One-dimensional growth induced by thermal stress

Amorphous SiOx nanowires grown on the surface of big Ag particles were synthesized by evaporation of a mixture of SiO and Ag2O. The morphologies at different growth stages hint at a special kind of growth mechanism different from the classical vapor-liquid-solid (V-L-S) mechanism and oxygen assistant mechanism. A layer of SiO, wraps the Ag particles in the cooling process. The SiO, nanowire growth is induced by the thermal stress accumulated in the interface of the outer SiOx layer and Ag particles for different shrinking coefficients. When the then-nal stress accumulates to a certain degree, the SiO, layer chaps and peels off from the Ag particles to form SiO, nanowires. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.