The growth of CuSi composite nanorod arrays by oblique angle co-deposition, and their structural, electrical and optical properties.

Different CuSi composite nanorods with 0-100 at.% Cu were fabricated by an oblique angle co-deposition technique. The effects of increasing Cu during deposition on the morphologies, structures and properties were investigated. During co-evaporation, the addition of Cu decreases the nanorod width and height but increases the nanorod tilting angle. The polarized optical transmission spectra reveal that all the nanorod samples show a remarkable anisotropic response to visible light with an eccentricity e ≈ 1, whereas their optical response to NIR light depends strongly on the Cu composition, and the related eccentricity increases monotonically with the increase of Cu. The obtained amorphous Si film has a resistivity of approximately 4.9 × 10(4) Ω cm. The incorporation of 5-75 at.% Cu increases the electrical conductance from two to eight orders of magnitude. The improved conductance and the unique optical properties of the Si-based nanocomposites could have potential applications for Li-ion battery anode and optical design.