Formation of nanoflowers: Au and Ni silicide cores surrounded by SiO_x branches

• Feitao Li,
• Siyao Wan,
• Dong Wang and
• Peter Schaaf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.14

• This work reports the formation of nanoflowers after annealing of Au/Ni bilayers deposited on SiO2/Si substrates. The cores of the nanoflowers consist of segregated Ni silicide and Au parts and are surrounded by SiOx branches. The SiO2 decomposition is activated at 1050 °C in a reducing atmosphere, and

• to the strong ability of Au to enhance SiO2 decomposition, and nanoflowers with less difference in their branches can be observed across the whole sample. Keywords: Au/Ni bilayers; dewetting; vapor–liquid–solid; SiO2 decomposition; SiOx nanowires; Introduction Substantial efforts have been devoted

• and significant to extend the previous research of Au–SiOx nanoflowers formed by an Au single layer to bilayers and explore potential fabrication parameters. In the present work, nanoflowers made of a core nanoparticle and surrounding SiOx NWs are synthesized from annealing thin Au/Ni bilayers with