Nanosized silicon particles by inert gas arc evaporation

We have explored the possibilities of inert gas are evaporation for fabrica tion of nanosized Si particles and studied agglomeration, size, shape, crys tallinity, surface roughness and internal structure of these particles by c onventional and high resolution electron microscopy. The rarely used techni que yielded single crystalline, spherical Si particles 3 - 16 nm in size co mpletely free of planar lattice defects. The particles, covered by thin amo rphous oxide shells, are agglomerated into chains and tangles. The lattice of diamond cubic type exhibits contractions which decrease as with decreasi ng particle size the oxide shell thickness is reduced. This effect is ascri bed to compressive stress at the Si/oxide interface. (C) 1999 Acta Metallur gica Inc.