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A modified technique for the growth of silicon carbide from silicon by the method of self-consistent substitution of atoms is proposed, which makes it possible to increase the achievable thickness of the formed silicon carbide layer by about an order of magnitude. The technique includes an additional step before the growth process: the surface of the silicon substrate is being saturated with vacancies by annealing in vacuum at T = 1350 ℃ for ~ 30 min. This leads to a change in the mechanism of mass transfer from the interstitial to the vacancy one when silicon atoms are being substituted by carbon atoms. As a result, not only the thickness of the silicon carbide layer increases, but also the separation of silicon carbide from the silicon substrate occurs if the thickness of the SiC layer surpasses 400 nm.

We have grown silver dendrites by electrolysis of silver-to-sodium ion-exchanged silicate glass slides. The DC voltage of 150 and 300 V was applied to thin film coplanar electrodes deposited on the slide surface. Exposing the silver structures with weak etchant resulted in some increase in optical absorption and in the essential enhancement of Raman scattering, by the factor of ~106-107. The solid state nature of the glass-dendrite system provided stability of the formed structures, and the prepared SERS substrates did not require special conditions for storage, but a short etching before use.

The possibility of growing bulk (more than 7 μm thick) epitaxial semipolar AlN films on Si(001) and hybrid SiC/Si(001) substrates without cracks has been investigated. It is found that an AlN layer grown on the Si substrate is extended, whereas an AlN layer grown on the hybrid SiC/Si substrate is compressed. The limiting (critical) thickness of the semipolar AlN layer on the Si(001) substrate is determined to be ~7.5 μm. When the film thickness exceeds this value, an ensemble of cracks is formed in the film, leading to its total cracking and exfoliation from the substrate. The semipolar epitaxial AlN films with a thickness of more than 40 μm are grown on hybrid SiC/Si substrates without cracking and exfoliation from the substrate.

We investigated the stability of silver nanoisland films, which were formed on glass surface by the method of out-diffusion, in biocompatible buffers and the applicability of the films in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). We have shown that silver nanoisland films are stable in one of the most widespread in biological studies buffer—phosphate buffer saline (PBS), and in 1:100 water-diluted PBS, in the PBS-based buffer, in which NaCl is replaced by the same amount of NaClO4, and in acidic phosphate buffer. At the same time, the replacement of NaCl in PBS by N(CH3)4Cl leads to the degradation of the nanoislands. It was shown that after exposure to PBS the nanoisland films provided a good SERS signal from a monolayer of 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE), which makes silver nanoisland films promising for biosensor applications. Additionally, in our experiments, we registered for the first time that silver nanoparticles formed in the bulk of the samples dissolved after exposing to PBS, while nanoislands on the glass surface stayed unchanged. We associate this phenomenon with the interaction of ions contained in PBS solution with silver, which results in the shift of corresponding chemical equilibrium.

The growth of an arbitrary multicomponent crystal via the Burton–Cabrera–Frank mechanism due to chemical reaction is studied. The rates of advancement of a single step, a group of equidistant steps...

The growth of faceted pores in a multi-component crystal under the influence of applied mechanical stress is investigated in the framework of the Burton–Cabrera–Frank and Chernov models. In this process, self-consistent diffusion of excess vacancies of different crystal components to the pores occurs and they are being incorporated into the “void” steps and kinks on the pore facets, which causes the pores to grow. Expressions are found to relate the applied mechanical stress, properties of individual components of the crystal and the normal pore growth rate to both by layer-by-layer and spiral mechanisms. The main differences and similarities with single-component systems and real crystal growth are discussed. The proposed approach and theory can be used to engineer crystals with desired pore-size distribution and to predict the final pore size after processing.

—The vacancy growth of a faceted pore in a crystal via Chernov mechanism is studied. It is assumed that the growth is due to the diffusion of excess vacancies arising in the bulk of the crystal under the influence of mechanical tensile stress. In the framework of the formalism proposed by Chernov, the distribution of vacancies in the crystal near the step and its rate of advance are found. A connection is established between the normal pore growth rate and the applied mechanical stress. The growth due to the advance of a set of equidistant “void” steps as well as due to advance of the spiral step that arose at the exit point of the screw dislocation are considered. The results can be used to analyze the durability of materials subjected constantly to low tensile stresss.

The growth of a faceted pore in a crystal by the Burton–Cabrera–Frank mechanism under action of a mechanical tensile load is considered. The growth is determined by the diffusion of vacancies existing in a crystal to the terraces and steps on the pore surface. The expressions for the speed of movement of a single step and a group of parallel steps, and also for the dependence of the normal growth rate of a pore by the spiral mechanism under action of applied load have been found. It is shown that, in a certain range of low tensile loads, the rate has a quadratic dependence on the load, while the dependence is linear at high loads. The influence of impurities on the crystal fracture by the pore growth mechanism under consideration is discussed.

The irradiation of silver-to-sodium ion-exchanged glass with 1.06-&mu, m nanosecond laser pulses of mJ-range energy results in the formation of silver nanoparticles under the glass surface. Following chemical removal of ~25-nm glass layer reveals a pattern of nanoparticles capable of surface enhancement of Raman scattering (SERS). The pattern formed when laser pulses are more than half-overlapped provides up to ~105 enhancement and uniform SERS signal distribution, while the decrease of the pulse overlap results in an order of magnitude higher but less uniform enhancement.

International audience; Local and controllable growth of nanocrystalline silicon (nano‐Si) in a commercial borosilicate glass is demonstrated. The nano‐Si was formed in the subsurface region of the glass via aluminothermic reaction in the course of the irradiation of a 2D array of aluminum nanodisks fabricated on the glass surface with CW low‐power 633 and 532 nm lasers. The thermoplasmonic nature of the nanodisks heating is demonstrated: at low incident intensity, the phenomenon takes place only if the plasmon resonance of the array and the laser wavelength is close enough. However, when the laser beam intensity at the sample surface exceeds 8 MW/cm² mutual position of the plasmon resonance and the laser wavelength weakly influences the phenomenon. The nano‐Si formation is studied with Raman scattering technique, and the average size of the silicon nanocrystals is evaluated.

Compositional and structural modification of the subanodic region of poled soda-lime glass under secondary heat treatment is studied using secondary ion mass spectrometry and micro-Raman techniques. A relaxation of the layered compositional distribution in the poled region of the glass remits to more equilibrium state in 250–780 °C temperature range, and the different relaxation mechanisms replace (and supplement) each other as the temperature rises. The main relaxation mechanism below the glass transition temperature, TG, is alkalis – hydrogen ions exchange, while at temperatures up to ~100 °C above TG the main mechanism is the drift of alkali ions. At higher temperatures, up to 780 °C, the drift of calcium ions dominates. Heating the poled glass up to 780 °C results in partial crystallization of the subsurface layer of the poled glass with the formation of micron-size grains, supposedly monoclinic dicalcium silicate, β-Ca2SiO4.

A new trigonal (rhombohedral) SiC phase, existence of which was previously theoretically predicted by a symmetry analysis, is studied. It is shown that the phase can be formed during the growth of SiC films by the method of substitution of atoms on the surface of a Si substrate. Ab initio calculations of the crystal structure of a new phase and its Raman spectra are performed by the quantum chemistry method. The difference of the selection rules for the Raman active vibrations for this rhombohedral phase from the selection rules for a cubic phase in the coordinate system aligned with the translation vectors of the rhombohedral phase is established. Series of thin SiC/Si films by annealing time are synthesized by the method of the topochemical substitution of atoms, and their Raman spectra are analyzed. The presence of the spectral line (258 cm–1), that is close to the line of a new trigonal (rhombohedral) phase calculated by the ab initio method, has been found in the Raman spectra of the samples at the initial stage of the growth of a SiC film, which indirectly confirms its existence.

This article presents a brief review and original studies of the elastic-plastic properties of nanoscale and microscale thin films on substrates. Studies are conducted on the example of wide gap semiconductor films, which are extremely important for modern micro-and-optoelectronics, such as: gallium nitride, silicon carbide and gallium oxide grown on silicon substrates. The focus is on the effect of film nanoscale on methods for analyzing experimental nanoindentation results. In particular, methods for the analysis of two-layer nanoscale films, as well as films of anisotropic materials, are discussed. The dynamics of elastic stresses in the indenter area are analyzed by the Raman maps. The main methods for modeling the elastoplastic properties of films by quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics are considered.

A fundamentally new method for synthesis of thick (200-400 nm) epitaxial films of silicon carbide on single-crystal Al2O3 substrates is proposed. The method develops the previously discovered method of topochemical substitution of atoms during the transformation of Si into SiC. In the proposed method, a layer of epitaxial Si of orientation (100) or (111) is being preliminarily deposited on the sapphire via CVD or other technique. Then, using a topochemical reaction between the CO gas and the deposited epitaxial silicon film, a part of Si atoms is being substituted by carbon atoms. As a result, the silicon film transforms into SiC film. As experimental studies have shown, in the process of this transformation a high-quality epitaxial SiC layer can be formed on the sapphire surface under certain synthesis conditions. A detailed investigation of grown SiC layers using the methods of electron diffraction, ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry and scanning microscopy is conducted and an analysis of experimental data is given. Formation of both cubic 3C-SiC and hexagonal SiC polytypes during the transformation of Si into SiC was revealed by the XRD method. A detailed analysis of the current state of the problems of growth of epitaxial SiC layers on Al2O3 using various methods is provided. The method developed in this study opens up completely new perspectives not only for synthesis of semiconductors, but also for creation of new classes of composite, heat-resistant and other solid coatings.

A three-layer heterostructure consisting of AlN (∼0.72 μm thick), AlGaN (∼ 1.82 μm thick), and GaN (∼2.2 μm thick) layers has been grown by hydride–chloride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method on a Si substrate with a SiC buffer nanolayer. The heterostructure was studied using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and other techniques. The results showed that SiC/Si substrates can be used for growing films of III–V semiconductor compounds by HVPE at a high rate (~66 μm/h) free of cracks and with small residual elastic stresses (~160 MPa).

The paper focuses on growth of GaN thin films via plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on SiC/Si(111) substrate formed by atom-by-atom substitution method. A comparison with GaN film grown in the same process directly on Si(111) substrate is performed. The films were studied by ellipsometry, electron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The results of these measurements are used to compare polarity of the films, crystalline properties, quality and residual elastic stresses in GaN films grown on Si and SiC/Si substrates. It is shown that SiC buffer layer has a positive effect on the structural quality of growing GaN thin films. It was found that use of SiC/Si(111) substrate leads to formation of N-polar film, whereas Ga-polar film is formed on Si(111).

The Raman technique and X-ray diffractometry are used to study the crystallization of potassium-titanosilicate glass under thermal poling. It is shown that one of the crystalline phases of titanium dioxide, anatase, is formed in the subsurface layer of the glass under the anode. During subsequent heat treatment, it partially transforms into a more thermodynamically stable phase that is rutile. The crystallization occurs at the poling temperature of ~ 460 °C, which is below the glass transition temperature, 485 °C, and below the crystallization temperature of binary glasses xTiO2-(1-x) SiO2 and films of similar composition. The mechanism of the formation of the crystalline phase is discussed.

A comparative analysis of crystal structure, Raman spectra, and dielectric hysteresis loops was carried out for organic ferroelectric crystals of 2-methylbenzimidazole (MBI) grown from ethanol (MBIet), acetone (MBIac), deuterated acetone (MBId-ac), or prepared by sublimation from gas phase (MBIgas). Raman spectroscopy shows identical frequencies of molecular vibrations in all studied crystals, proving the same molecular structure. At the same time, a detailed analysis of the asymmetry of the powder XRD reflection profiles indicates the presence of nano-scaled regions with the same MBI symmetry and crystal structure but slightly different sizes and unit cell parameters. The formation of the MBI modifications is associated with possible penetration of solvent molecules into the voids of the MBI crystal structure. Dielectric hysteresis loops in MBIet and MBId-ac crystals at room temperature demonstrate significantly different values of coercive fields Ec. Analysis of hysteresis loops within the framework of the Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi (KAI) model shows that the polarization switching in MBId-ac occurs much faster than in MBIet crystals, which in the KAI model is associated with different values of the characteristic frequency ω0 and the activation field Ea of the domains wall motion.

A method for the synthesis of silicon carbide–graphite composite coatings is proposed and described. The method is based on the two simultaneous chemical reactions involving graphite. One of these reactions consists of the chemical interaction of a silicon molten mass with carbon monoxide on the surface of the graphite at a temperature slightly exceeding the melting point of silicon. It transforms Si into gaseous silicon monoxide (SiO) and SiC. Simultaneously, a second reaction involves the SiO in the transformation of the graphite itself into SiC. A coating with a thickness exceeding 1 mm is formed during the synthesis. The resulting coating has high mechanical strength and hardness. Samples of the composite coating were investigated via scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, and nanoindentation. The coating has a complicated structure. It consists of a dense overlayer of SiC and has a branched structure consisting of dendrite-like SiC crystals extending into the depth of the graphite. The dendrites are interspersed with large (up to 20 μm) single-crystalline SiC grains consisting of predominantly cubic polytypes. The coating leads to significant hardening of the material: the composite has a hardness of 28 GPa, which is ~254 times higher than the hardness of the original graphite surface.

The indentation process of thin gallium nitride film grown on SiC buffer layer on silicon was studied. SiC was obtained by the new method of substitution of atoms directly in a silicon substrate. Indentation data, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the indented system. Mechanical properties of the film and the substrate were derived using single-layer Oliver-Pharr and Doerner-Nix approaches. Micro-Raman confocal microscopy was used to construct 3-dimensional maps of mechanical stresses and crystalline quality both of GaN and silicon near the indenter impression for different indentation depths. The anisotropy of propagation of the elastic stresses during indentation was investigated and it was shown, that distribution of stress in the substrate has a shape of trefoil. This process has been modeled by means of molecular dynamics.

A study of Raman scattering enhancement by single hemispheroidal silver nanoislands grown on a glass surface via out-diffusion technique combined with thermal poling of the glass is presented. It was demonstrated in the experiments and confirmed by numerical modeling that maximal enhancement of Raman signal occurs when the diameter of a silver nanoisland fell between 90 and 115 nm, and the thickness of the Rhodamine 6G dye analyte layer was ∼3 nm. In this case the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in the silver hemispheroid corresponded to the wavelength of the laser used to excite Raman scattering, 532 nm, and maximal enhancement by an single hemispheroidal nanoisland, ∼5 × 10 7 , was close to one provided by a typical silver nanoisland film. Varying lateral diameter of the silver hemispheroid allowed us shifting the SPR wavelength and enhancing particular lines in R6G Raman spectra.

A chemical-etching based method for separating GaN/AlN and AlN epitaxial heterostructures grown on silicon with a silicon-carbide buffer layer and transferring them to substrates of any type is developed. GaN/AlN/SiC and AlN/SiC heterostructures 2.5 μm and 18 μm thick, respectively, are separated and transferred to a glass substrate. It is shown that a silicon-carbide buffer layer on silicon, grown by the substitution method, has a developed subsurface structure which allows easy separation of the film from the substrate and promotes the relaxation of elastic energy caused by a difference in thermal-expansion coefficients of the film and substrate. It is shown that mechanical stresses in the film after its separation from the silicon substrate almost completely relaxed.

International audience; A simple technique to fabricate microchannels in glasses with self-assembled silver nanoparticles (NPs) in the channels is presented. It combines thermal-electric poling of silver-to-sodium ion-exchanged glass slides with a patterned anodic electrode, formation of the microchannels via selective etching off the unpoled slide regions, and hydrogen annealing. The annealing results in the growth of NPs only on the bottom of the channels. The studies performed allowed optimizing the channels’ depth and NPs surface density for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) based sensing and microfluidic applications. We have demonstrated that the formed NPs allow detection of 1/20 of BPE (1,2-Di(4-pyridyl)ethylene 97%) monolayer, the evaluated Raman enhancement factor being ~4·107. The proposed approach based on the glass poling allowed us the fabrication of ~1 μm deep channels and easy multiplication of the structures because the anodic electrodes used for the poling are capable of multiple usage.

A technology has been developed for the formation of nanoparticles of molybdenum and tungsten disulfides solid solutions by aerosol assisted chemical deposition from the gas phase. Unlike conventional methods of such solid solutions formation by oxides sulfurization methods, this technology allows to obtain nanoparticles in a gas flow with a high speed and the ability to control the composition and particle size. Single-source precursors ammonium thiomolybdate and thiotungstate are used, their ratio defines metals ratio in nanoparticles. Particles size control is available via concentration variation of initial solution. It was experimentally shown with TEM, XRD and Raman spectroscopy that nanoparticles are true solid solutions. Metal atoms are uniformly distributed between sulfur layers.

It is shown that atomistic modeling of the indentation of thin films using the method of molecular dynamics (MD) has some advantages on the nanoscale level in comparison to the traditional method of finite elements. Effects revealed by the MD simulations, including delamination and cracking of the film under indenter and the formation and propagation of dislocations are considered. Elastic properties of a nanoscale film on substrate have been studied using the Tersoff potential in application to the silicon carbide film on silicon (SiC/Si). The results of MD simulation qualitatively agree with recent experimental data for indentation in the SiC/Si system. The influence of parameters of the Tersoff potential on the Young’s modulus of simulated materials has been studied for silicon.

A new approach to the pendeo-epitaxy of elastically-unstrained AlN films is developed. The AlN films are grown using chloride-hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on a silicon substrate with specially synthesized and shaped buffer layer of nano-SiC (NSiC). This NSiC epitaxial layer is grown using a new technique based on the substitution of a part of silicon atoms by carbon ones in a 100–110 nm thick subsurface layer of the silicon substrate. The 2D array of ~ 200 nm in diameter wells with the depth of ~ 70 nm that is less than the NSiC layer thickness is formed on the NSiC surface using electron beam lithography followed by reactive ion etching, the period of the array is of 400 nm. In a single HVPE process we grew ~ 20 μm thick AlN film both on the shaped and smooth regions of the prepared substrate. The AlN films are examined with reflection high energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. We use the results of these measurements to compare residual elastic stresses in the AlN film grown on the shaped and smooth regions of the substrate. The film on the shaped part of the substrate is elastically-unstrained contrary to the smooth part where elastic stresses result in the formation of a textured AlN layer. The model of the AlN growth on shaped SiC/Si substrates prepared using the atomic substitution technique is proposed.

International audience; We characterized changes in the composition of subsurface layer of silver ion-exchanged soda-lime glass during annealing in hydrogen atmosphere. The formation of tens of nanometers distanced layers of silver nanoparticles in the glass at temperature of 300 °C has been revealed. Performed numerical modeling of the process demonstrates a good qualitative agreement with the experiment. This is of interest for simple formation of 3D-optoplasmonic structures, Bragg gratings or photonic crystals.

Modifications of a soda-lime silicate glass under thermal poling in corona discharge (CDP) in air and in dry nitrogen is studied with micro Raman technique to evaluate the possibility of glass structuration using poling in nitrogen. It is shown that CDP in dry nitrogen, contrary to CDP in atmospheric air, increases the concentration of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra bound into three-member rings in the subsurface region of the glass. The formation of the three-member rings is accompanied by the release of molecular oxygen.

It has been demonstrated that thermally poled regions of silicate glasses are capable of blocking penetration of silver ions into the glasses in the course of ion exchange processing. This allows using locally poled regions of the glass surface as thick dielectric masks in the formation of ion exchanged structures, like channel optical waveguides, in glass substrates. This approach provides easy multiplication of the structures and, being based on the thermal electric field imprinting of the masks, allows avoiding both lithography with the use of liquid chemicals and the influence of metal masks on the spatial distribution of the ions penetrating the glass in the ion exchange.

We studied silver nanoparticles combined with periodic gratings on a glass surface. The gratings were fabricated by selective etching of the glass slide patterned by thermal poling. The nanoparticles were grown on the bottom of the gratings’ grooves by out-diffusion technique. Obtained nanostructures supported both plasmonic and grating optical resonances and demonstrated SERS enhancement two times higher than one of the pure plasmonic structure.

The classical BCF theory is extended for the description of the spiral growth of a multicomponent crystal from vapor of its components. Equations for the rate of advance of a group of equidistant steps are derived. The spiral growth rate of the crystal is found. It is shown that the growth of the multicomponent crystal can be described mathematically in the same way as the growth of a single-component crystal using a few generalized parameters: diffusion coefficient, supersaturations, each of which depends on properties of all individual crystal components. As an example, the theory is applied to describe gallium nitride crystal growth.

It is demonstrated that the annealing of the soda lime glass poled in closed and open anode configuration results in the formation of microcrystals of dicalcium silicate (β-Ca2SiO4) and diopside (CaMgSi2O6), respectively, at the anodic side of the glass while unpoled regions of the glass stay non-crystallized. Different types of the microcrystals grown are due to the difference in the composition and structure of the subanodic layer of the differently poled glasses. This allows using thermal poling as a tool to control crystallization of glasses.

The morphological stability of a flat elastically strained multicomponent film, the growth of which is controlled by the boundary kinetics, has been considered. It has been shown that the instability can be caused by fluctuations of mechanical stresses in the film, which affect the lifetime of adsorbents on the film surface. A stability criterion that relates the affinity of a chemical reaction on the surface to the stress in the film has been found. The growth of the GaN films on sapphire has been analyzed based on the obtained results. The influence of the flux ratio of Group III/V components on the morphology of the film has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that, in terms of this mechanism, smoother films are formed when their growth is controlled by nitrogen, whereas the characteristic roughness, which is comparable to the mean free path of adatoms, has developed when the growth is controlled by gallium.

A new effect of the n-and p-type doping of the Si(100) substrate with a SiC film on the growth mechanism and structure of AlN and GaN epitaxial layers has been revealed. It has been experimentally shown that the mechanism of AlN and GaN layer growth on the surface of a SiC layer synthesized by substituting atoms on n- and p-Si substrates is fundamentally different. It has been found that semipolar AlN and GaN layers on the SiC/Si(100) surface grow in the epitaxial and polycrystalline structures on p-Si and n-Si substrates, respectively. A new method for synthesizing epitaxial semipolar AlN and GaN layers by chloride–hydride epitaxy on silicon substrates has been proposed.

Thermal poling of glasses induces structural and compositional modification and breaks central symmetry of these initially isotropic media. In spite of numerous experimental data accumulated, littl...

Formation of nanoscale surface relief on the anodic surface of an alkali-silicate glass in the course of thermal poling in open anode configuration and related structural/compositional changes in subanodic region of the glass are studied. Surface of poled glass beneath anodic electrode goes down relatively to the unpoled glass area. The depth of the relief increases linearly with the electric charge transferred through the glass in poling till ~ 200 mC/cm2 charge density, when the depth saturates at ~ 190 nm. While the depth-charge dependence is linear, the glass surface keeps initial quality, and the saturation region corresponds to arising voids and channels directed in the depth of the poled glass. Our evaluations show that the volume difference resulting from the replacement of alkaline and alkaline earth ions by hydrogen is insufficient to provide observed relief. Raman scattering measurements evidence that the poling induces rearrangement of the structure of the glass via losing non-bridging oxygen atoms and forming molecular oxygen. This makes the glass very similar to silica one. These processes are mainly responsible for the surface relief formation.

In silver-ion-containing ion-exchange glasses subjected to a constant electric field and temperature, fractal silver structures arise under the surface facing the cathode. The growth of the structures is characterized by random branching and the absence of self-crossings: the main part of the fractal is in the glass, and some ends of the branches emerge on the surface. As a possible application of substrates with fractal structures thus prepared, the determination of their surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity using Rhodamine 6G dye is described.

The morphological stability of a spherical crystal growing from a multicomponent medium due to the chemical reaction has been investigated. The approach used in this study is applicable to the case where the chemical compound forming the crystal does not exist in a gaseous (dissolved) form (for example, GaN). The investigation has been performed according to the classical scheme by the expansion of an infinitesimal deviation of the crystallization front from the initial shape into a series with the subsequent calculation of the time dependence of the coefficients of the expansion. It has been found that there is a similarity of the stability criteria for single-component and multicomponent crystals. In a multicomponent system, the single-component supersaturation analog determining the stability of a particle is the affinity of the chemical reaction. It has been shown that the morphological stability can also depend on the formation of other phases on the surface of the initial crystal, which is excluded in a single-component medium.

The work is devoted to the growth of a multicomponent crystal via Chernov’s mechanism, namely, due to diffusion of its own components from vapor or solution and their subsequent incorporation directly into steps. Equations describing the rate of advance of a group of equidistant steps are derived taking into account individual properties: diffusion coefficients, atomic volumes of all components.

The irradiation of a BOROFLOAT® 33 glass plate with lithographically-fabricated array of aluminum nanodisks on the surface by a focused low-power 523 nm laser beam resulted in the formation of silicon nanocrystals in the subsurface layer of the glass. The nano-Si was registered with Raman scattering technique. The formation of the nano-Si is local and grown nanocrystals are stable.

In this work we present the model capable of prediction whether the vapor-liquid-solid growth would preferably result in the formation of in-plane (horizontal) or out-of-plane (vertical or inclined) nanowires. Within the model, we analyze the particular case of gold-catalyzed germanium nanowire growth on Ge(111), Ge(110) and Si(100) substrates. We focus on two aspects of the growth process: detachment of the catalyst from the substrate and stabilization of horizontal growth by nucleation at the nanowire-substrate-liquid line.