Silicon and germanium nanowires: Growth, properties, and integration

Semiconducting nanowires are an area of widespread interest in nano-materials research because of the ability to fabricate one-dimensional structures with tailored functionalities not available in bulk materials. Silicon and germanium nanowires have received particular attention because of the important role played by these materials systems in contemporary microelectronics and their potential for applications ranging from novel electronic devices to molecular level sensing and to solar energy harvesting. This paper provides an overview of the widely used vapor-liquid-solid technique for nanowire growth and its application to our recent silicon and germanium nanowire studies.