Density-functional calculations were used to study the role of lateral surface reconstructions in determining the electrical properties of <100> silicon nanowires. The various lateral reconstructions were explored by relaxing all of the nanowires with the crystalline bulk silicon structure, and all possible ideal facets that corresponded to an average diameter of 1.5nm. It was shown that the reconstruction induced the formation of ubiquitous surface states that made the wires semi-metallic or metallic.

On the Properties of Surface Reconstructed Silicon Nanowires. R.Rurali, N.Lorente: Nanotechnology, 2005, 16[5], S250-3