Side-by-side silicon carbide-silica biaxial nanowires: Synthesis, structure, and mechanical properties

Elevated-temperature synthesis has been used to generate side-by-side biaxi ally structured silicon carbide-silica nanowires. The axial growth directio n approaches [311] for nanowires with a high density of microtwins and is [ 211] for defect-free nanowires. The structure of these nanowires, their cro ss-sectional shape, and their structural transformation between a biaxial a nd coaxial configuration have been studied by transmission electron microsc opy. The Young's modulus of the biaxially structured nanowires was measured to be 50-70 GPa depending on the size of the nanowire. (C) 2000 American I nstitute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02347-0].