Coherent-diffraction imaging of single nanowires of diameter 95 nanometers

Photonic or electronic confinement effects in nanostructures become significant when one of their dimension is in the 5–300 nm range. Improving their development requires the ability to study their structure-shape, strain field, and interdiffusion maps. We have used coherent-diffraction imaging to record the three-dimensional scattered intensity of single silicon nanowires with a lateral size smaller than 100 nm. We show that this intensity can be used to recover the hexagonal shape of the nanowire with a 28 nm resolution. This paper also discusses the limits of the method in terms of radiation damage.