Nucleation and growth mechanism of self-catalyzed InAs nanowires on silicon. (12th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gomes, U P; Ercolani, D; Zannier, V; David, J; Gemmi, M; Beltram, F; Sorba, L
• Is Part Of: Nanotechnology. Volume 27:Number 25(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-05-12
• Subjects: self catalyzed -- InAs nanowires -- nanowire nucleation mechanism -- III–V growth model; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology; Publications périodiques; Nanotechnologies; Periodicals; 620.5
• DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/25/255601
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-4484

Abstract

Abstract: We report on the nucleation and growth mechanism of self-catalyzed InAs nanowires (NWs) grown on Si (111) substrates by chemical beam epitaxy. Careful choices of the growth parameters lead to In-rich conditions such that the InAs NWs nucleate from an In droplet and grow by the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism while sustaining an In droplet at the tip. As the growth progresses, new NWs continue to nucleate on the Si (111) surface causing a spread in the NW size distribution. The observed behavior in NW nucleation and growth is described within a suitable existing theoretical model allowing us to extract relevant growth parameters. We argue that these results provide useful guidelines to rationally control the growth of self-catalyzed InAs NWs for various applications.