Silicon nanowires are potentially transformative photovoltaic materials. Nanowire arrays are commonly synthesized using gold seeded vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth. Gold, however, can damage silicon’s electronic properties and growth temperatures are too high for low cost substrates. Here silicon nanowires were grown from benign tin seeds at much lower temperatures using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Control of wire radial and transverse growth rates was demonstrated.
