This work was carried out to investigate the comparative effects of phosphorus and boron doing in vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth. Doped Si microneedles were grown by VLS mechanism at the temperature of 700 degrees C or less using Au as the catalyst. VLS growth using in-situ doping with the mixed gas of Si2H6 and PH3 produced phosphorus doped n-Si microneedles at Au dot sites, whereas, the mixed gas of Si2H6 and B2H6 produced boron doped p-Si microneedles. The variation of growth rate, diameter, resistivity, impurity concentration and carrier (electron, hole) mobility of these n-Si and p-Si microneeedles were investigated and compared with the variation of dopant gas (PH3 or B2H6) flow, with a fixed flow of Si gas (Si2H6). This comparative study shall be helpful while fabricating devices by growing n-Si and p-Si microneedles one above another by multistep (2-step or 3-step) VLS growth. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.