Self-catalyzed, pure zincblende GaAs nanowires grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy

Cirlin, G.E.; Dubrovskii, V.G.; Samsonenko, Y.B.; Bouravleuv, A.D.; Durose, K.; Mendes, B.; Bowen, L.; Kaliteevski, M.A.; Abram, R.; Zeze, D.A.

Abstract

We report on the Au-free molecular beam epitaxy growth of coherent GaAs nanowires directly on Si(111) substrates. The growth is catalyzed by liquid Ga droplets formed in the openings of a native oxide layer at the initial growth stage. Transmission electron microscopy studies demonstrate that the nanowires are single crystals having the zincblende structure along their length (apart from a thin wurtzite region directly below the Ga droplet), regardless of their diameter (70–80 nm) and the growth temperature range (560–630 °C). We attribute the observed phase purity to a much lower surface energy of liquid Ga than that of Au-Ga alloys, which makes triple line nucleation energetically unfavorable. The change in growth catalyst to a liquid metal with a lower energy suppresses the (more usual) formation of wurtzite nuclei on surface energetic grounds. These results can provide a distinct method for the fabrication of chemically pure and stacking-fault-free zincblende nanowires of III-V compounds on silicon.

Citation

Cirlin, G., Dubrovskii, V., Samsonenko, Y., Bouravleuv, A., Durose, K., Proskruryakov, Y., Mendes, B., Bowen, L., Kaliteevski, M., Abram, R., & Zeze, D. (2010). Self-catalyzed, pure zincblende GaAs nanowires grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. Physical review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 82(3), Article 035302. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.82.035302

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Sep 20, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 11, 2010
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Print ISSN: 1098-0121
• Electronic ISSN: 1550-235X
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 82
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 035302
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.82.035302
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1516548