We have explored the possibilities of inert gas are evaporation for fabrication of nanosized Si particles and studied agglomeration, size, shape, crystallinity, surface roughness and internal structure of these particles by conventional and high resolution electron microscopy. The rarely used technique yielded single crystalline, spherical Si particles 3 - 16 nm in size completely free of planar lattice defects. The particles, covered by thin amorphous oxide shells, are agglomerated into chains and tangles. The lattice of diamond cubic type exhibits contractions which decrease as with decreasing particle size the oxide shell thickness is reduced. This effect is ascribed to compressive stress at the Si/oxide interface. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc. [References: 13]

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