Study of quasi-1D SnO2 nanowires

The descriptions of SnO2 nanowires growth procedures are getting more and more frequent in the current literature. However, studies on the growth mechanisms are still lacking. In particular, no investigation has been reported on the growth process when the growth mechanisms are not based, as in the case of whiskers, on vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) transitions. In this paper, a new procedure is reported by the authors for growing SnO2 nanowires, based on the presence of liquid-tin droplets on the substrate. The Sn vapour pressure developed by these droplets, which find themselves very close to the growing tip of the wire, gives rise to a sufficiently high supersaturation to enable the fast growth rate usually observed. The principal features and results of this new procedure, as well as possible growth mechanisms, are also discussed.