Aligned single crystal Al-catalyzed boron nanorods on Si substrates

Aligned tetragonal single crystal boron nanorods have been synthesized by chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates without any templates. A thin film of Al was used as catalyst, and the nanorods were synthesized in a large area. The nanorods have a diameter of 20–50 nm. The SAED and HRTEM reveal that the nanorods are single crystal in nature and preferentially grew up along [002]. The optical properties of the nanorods were investigated. The growth mechanism of the boron nanorods has been discussed. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2007