Figure 1

Microstructures of 20 nm Au film-coated SiNWs. (a) SEM image of as-coated SiNWs, in which Au layer covered on the tip of SiNWs equally; (b) TEM Images of 20-nm Au film-coated SiNWs post-annealed at 650°C, inset in (b) is the HRTEM image of Au-Si nano-particle. TEM and HRTEM images illustrate that the Au-Si phase had been formed after post-annealing at 650°C and Au-Si nano-particle-decorated SiNWs had been fabricated.