Analysis of vapor-liquid-solid mechanism in Au-assisted GaAs nanowire growth

Journal Article · Mon Nov 14 04:00:00 EST 2005 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2128487· OSTI ID:20706424

Harmand, J C; Patriarche, G; Pere-Laperne, N; Merat-Combes, M-N; Travers, L; Glas, F ^[1]

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1. Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures/CNRS, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis (France)

GaAs nanowires were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on (111)B oriented surfaces, after the deposition of Au nanoparticles. Different growth durations and different growth terminations were tested. After the growth of the nanowires, the structure and the composition of the metallic particles were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. We identified three different metallic compounds: the hexagonal {beta}{sup '}Au{sub 7}Ga{sub 2} structure, the orthorhombic AuGa structure, and an almost pure Au face centered cubic structure. We explain how these different solid phases are related to the growth history of the samples. It is concluded that during the wire growth, the metallic particles are liquid, in agreement with the generally accepted vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. In addition, the analysis of the wire morphology indicates that Ga adatoms migrate along the wire sidewalls with a mean length of about 3 {mu}m.

• OSTI ID: 20706424
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 87; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DEPOSITION
FCC LATTICES
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GOLD
LAYERS
LIQUIDS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
MORPHOLOGY
PARTICLES
QUANTUM WIRES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOLIDS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
VAPORS
X RADIATION
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY