Tungsten oxide nanowires grown on amorphous-like tungsten films

Tungsten oxide nanowires have been synthesized by vacuum annealing in the range 500-710 °C from amorphous-like tungsten films, deposited on a Si(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in the presence of a He background pressure. The oxygen required for the nanowires formation is already adsorbed in the W matrix before annealing, its amount depending on deposition parameters. Nanowire crystalline phase and stoichiometry depend on annealing temperature, ranging from W<inf>18</inf>O<inf>49</inf>-Magneli phase to monoclinic WO<inf>3</inf>. Sufficiently long annealing induces the formation of micrometer-long nanowires, up to 3.6 ?m with an aspect ratio up to 90. Oxide nanowire growth appears to be triggered by the crystallization of the underlying amorphous W film, promoting their synthesis at low temperatures.