Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction investigation of strains in silicon nanowires obtained by gold catalytic growth

In this paper, we measure experimentally the strains in silicon nanowires using Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction. Silicon nanowires have been grown with a gold-catalytic method and have a crystalline character. Braggʹs diffraction peak is measured and analyzed. A lattice mismatch parameter between the silicon substrate and silicon nanowires is found and accurately measured. The influence of the presence of the gold catalyst in the wires is investigated, and reveals a small decrease of the lattice mismatch parameter when the gold catalyst is removed. A residual strain is measured and a possible origin is proposed. An estimation of the surface and bulk stress is calculated and presented.