Substrate symmetry driven endotaxial silver nanostructures by chemical vapor deposition

We report a novel method of growth for endotaxial silver nanostructures on Si(100), Si(110), and Si(111) substrates using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Our procedure involves a low-temperature thermal etching of native oxide on silicon substrate using GeO_x layer as an etchant to grow substrate symmetry driven endotaxial nanostructures in the atmospheric pressure CVD system. A control over the shapes and sizes of the Ag nanostructures has been obtained by using parameters such as substrate orientation and time of deposition during the growth. High-resolution electron microscopy has been used to elucidate the growth mechanism of these structures.