a method to enhance the formation of nucleation sites on at least one narrow silicon structure comprises the steps : forming at least one nucleation region ; masking the at least one narrow silicon structure with a mask ; treating the at least one nucleation region to enhance an ability of said region to form c54 nucleation sites ; and removing the mask from the at least one narrow silicon structure . in another embodiment , a semiconductor device capable of undergoing a phase transformation comprises at least one narrow silicon structure formed of tisi 2 ; and at least one nucleation region attached to the at least one narrow silicon structure , said at least one nucleation region having a width which is greater than a width of said at least one narrow silicon structure and said at least one nucleation region capable of generating a high density of c54 nucleation sites such that said high density of nucleation sites causes a phase transformation to propagate along the at least one silicon structure .