Oxide-assisted growth of semiconducting nanowires

In this contribution, we outline oxide-assisted growth (OAG) (distinct from the conventional metal-catalytic vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process) for the growth of nanostructured materials. This synthesis technique, in which oxides instead of metals play an important role in inducing the nucleation and growth of nanowires, is capable of producing large quantities of high-purity silicon nanowires with a preferential growth direction, uniform size, and long length, without the need for a metal catalyst. The OAG 1D nanomaterials synthesis is complementary to, and coexistent with, the conventional metal-catalyst VLS approach, and can be utilized to produce nanowires from a host of materials other than Si including Ge nanowires, carbon nanowires, silicon and SnO₂ nanoribbons, and Group III-V and II-VI compound semiconductor nanowires.