Article Title

Structure and quality controlled growth of InAs nanowires through catalyst engineering

Authors

Zhi Zhang, Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Zhenyu Lu, National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-Tian Road, Shanghai 200083, China
Hongyi Xu, Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Pingping Chen, National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-Tian Road, Shanghai 200083, China
Wei Lu, National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-Tian Road, Shanghai 200083, China
Jin Zou, Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia

Keywords

structure, quality, InAs nanowires, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), Au catalysts

Abstract

In this study, the structure and quality controlled growth of InAs nanowires using Au catalysts in a molecular beam epitaxy reactor is presented. By tuning the indium concentration in the catalyst, defect-free wurtzite structure and defect-free zinc blende structure InAs nanowires can be induced. It is found that these defect-free zinc blende structure InAs nanowires grow along directions with four low-energy {111} and two {110} side-wall facets and adopt the (1 —1 —1 —) catalyst/nanowire interface. Our structural and chemical characterization and calculations identify the existence of a catalyst supersaturation threshold for the InAs nanowire growth. When the In concentration in the catalyst is sufficiently high, defect-free zinc blende structure InAs nanowires can be induced. This study provides an insight into the manipulation of crystal structure and structure quality of III–V semiconductor nanowires through catalyst engineering.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0524-x

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Zhi Zhang,Zhenyu Lu,Hongyi Xu,Pingping Chen,Wei Lu,Jin Zou, Structure and quality controlled growth of InAs nanowires through catalyst engineering. NanoRes.2014, 7(11): 1640–1649