Synthesis of polycrystalline Germanium

nanowires and thin films

1. Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) growth: This method involves the use of a catalytic metal, such as
gold or platinum, to facilitate the growth of Germanium nanowires from a gaseous source.
2. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD): This method involves the decomposition of a gaseous
precursor, such as GeH4 or GeCl4, to form Germanium nanowires on a substrate.
3. Electrodeposition: This method involves the growth of Germanium nanowires and or a thin
film from an electrolyte solution through an applied electric field.
4. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD): This method involves the deposition of Germanium vapor
onto a substrate to form nanowires or a thin film.
5. Pulse Electrodeposition: This method involves the growth of Germanium thin films through
pulsed electrodeposition.
6. Sol-Gel Processing: This method involves the synthesis of Germanium thin films through the
sol-gel process, which involves the hydrolysis and condensation of a metal alkoxide precursor.
 Solution-phase-based synthesis of GeNWs :
Supercritical fluidic synthesis : Method
 Stabilized Au nanoparticles were employed as catalyst and tetraethylgermane
(TEG) and diphenylgermane (DPG) were mixed with cylohexane.
 After reactions at 350–400 °C and 13.8–38 MPa, GeNWs were formed.
 The growth mechanism was suggested to be vapor–liquid–solid (VLS).
 Three stages are involved in this growth mechanism. Initially,
 precursor molecules containing Ge are decomposed to supply reactive Ge
species,
 which are fed into growth seed(e.g., Au) to form alloy.
 When the eutectic condition of this binary-phase system is reached, the alloy
particle becomes a liquid droplet.
 Further feeding of Ge causes supersaturation of Ge in the alloy liquid, thus
precipitation and nucleation of Ge crystal occur.
 As more Ge is continuously supplied, this feeding–alloying–nucleation process
is continued and Ge crystal prolongs to form a crystalline nanowire.
Solution-phase-based synthesis of GeNWs :
Supercritical fluidic synthesis : Method
 The VLS growth offers better control over
nanowire sizes since they are essentially
controlled by the sizes of growth seed. A
large size distribution of the as-produced
nanowires, presumably due to Au
nanoparticle aggregation in the solution and
uncontrolled deposition of Ge on the
surfaces of GeNWs.
 In addition, sophisticated purification and
assembly techniques have yet to be
developed to effectively utilize this method
because it is not directly compatible with
existing semiconductor technologies.
Low-temperature preparation of
polycrystalline germanium thin
films by Al-induced
crystallization : Method
 Al thin films (~200 nm) were firstly deposited by vacuum thermal
evaporation on Corning 7059 glass substrates.
 Then, a-Ge : H thin films (~1 pm) were deposited on the surface of
Al thin films using a radio frequency (13.56 MHz) capacitive-
coupled PECVD system.
 The reaction gases were Ar and GeHg (Hz dilution) mixture with a
total flow of 20sccm.
 The substrate temperature was fixed at 200°C. The base pressure
and the deposition pressure were3.0 x 10-4 Pa and 150 Pa,
respectively.
 The applied radio frequency power was 30W.
 Finally, the samples were taken after each successive annealing
from 250°C to 350°C under Np atmosphere.
Low-temperature preparation of polycrystalline germanium thin
films by Al-induced crystallization : Method

 The structure, morphologies and electrical properties of

the Gethin films were characterized with XRD, Raman
spectra, SEM, AFM and four-point probe.
 All measurements were carried out at room
temperature. The XRD measurements were performed
on a RigakuRINT2000 X-ray diffractometer with Cu Ka
radiation.
 The morphologies of the Ge thin films were obtained on
an S-4800 scanning electron microscope and SPA-400
AFM.
 Micro-Raman spectra were measured using a Jobinyvon
HK800 with excitation wavelength of 532 nm, Great care
was taken to limit the laser power in a low level in order
to prevent a-Ge : H thin films from crystallization during
the Raman measurements.
 The Rs was measured by a four point probe.
Low-temperature preparation of polycrystalline germanium thin films
by Al-induced crystallization : Method
Al-induced crystallization of amorphous
Ge thin films
 We employed polyimide films (thickness: 12–125 μm) as substrates.
 The softening temperature of the polyimide is approximately 400
°C, which is sufficiently higher than the temperature required for the
AIC of a-Ge . Because the crystal quality of AIC-Ge depends on the
substrate materials, the polyimides were coated with a 100-nm-thick
SiO2 film, which has been shown to yield high-quality Ge.
 Then, 50-nm-thick Al layers were deposited onto the SiO2 films,
and then exposed to air for 10 min to form native AlOx membranes
as diffusion limiting layers . Finally, 45 nm of a-Ge was deposited
on the AlOx. All the depositions were performed at room
temperature using radio frequency magnetron sputtering (base
pressure: 3.0 × 10−4 Pa) with an Ar plasma.
 The deposition rate was 28 nm min−1 for Ge and 31 nm min−1 for
Al. Pieces of Si substrates were used to fix the samples to the
vacuum chamber stage and prevent the samples from moving during
deposition.
Al-induced crystallization of amorphous
Ge thin films
 Following Ge deposition, the samples were
annealed at 325 °C in N2 for 100 h to
induce layer exchange between Ge and Al.
 The Ge(111)-oriented grains included those
with surface planes having orientations up
to 15° from the exact GE(111) plane
orientation. A grain was an area surrounded
by random grain boundaries. Before XRD
and EBSD, the surface Al layers were
removed by dipping the samples into a
diluted HF solution (1.5% HF) for 1 min to
expose the poly-Ge layers.
Biomedical application of polycrystalline
Germanium nanowires and thin films

1. Biosensors: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be used as

biosensors for the detection of disease markers, such as proteins or nucleic acids
2. Biomedical imaging: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be
used as contrast agents for X-ray or computed tomography (CT) imaging
applications, due to their high X-ray absorption coefficient
3. Biocompatibility: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films are
biocompatible, making them suitable for use in medical devices and implants.
4. Thermoelectric devices: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can
be used in thermoelectric devices for cooling or heating applications, such as
maintaining the temperature of biological samples.
5. Photovoltaics: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be used as a
material for photovoltaic devices for energy generation.
Biomedical application of polycrystalline
Germanium nanowires and thin films

6. Tissue engineering: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be

used as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, as they promote cell growth and
support the formation of new tissue.
7. Drug delivery: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be used to
deliver drugs or therapeutic agents directly to cells, tissues, or organs.
8. Wound healing: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be used to
promote wound healing through their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
9. Tumor treatment: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can be used
to treat tumors through radiation therapy or hyperthermia.
10. Stem cell differentiation: Polycrystalline Germanium nanowires and thin films can
be used to promote stem cell differentiation into specific cell types, such as neurons or
muscle cells .