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

Elevated-temperature synthesis has been used to generate side-by-side biaxially structured silicon carbide–silica nanowires. The axial growth direction approaches [311] for nanowires with a high density of microtwins and is [211] for defect-free nanowires. The structure of these nanowires, their cross-sectional shape, and their structural transformation between a biaxial and coaxial configuration have been studied by transmission electron microscopy. The Young’s modulus of the biaxially structured nanowires was measured to be 50–70 GPa depending on the size of the nanowire.