Influence of growth temperature on growth of InGaAs nanowires in selective-area metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy

Indium-rich InGaAs nanowires were grown on an InP (111)B substrate by catalyst-free selective-area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, and the growth-temperature dependence of growth rate and composition was studied. In particular, nanowire growth rate rapidly decreases as growth temperature increases. This tendency is opposite (for a similar temperature range) to that found in a previous study on selective-area growth of gallium-rich InGaAs nanowires. This difference between indium-rich and gallium-rich nanowires suggests that the influence of growth temperature on the growth of InGaAs nanowires is dependent on the group-III supply ratio. On the basis of previous experimental observations in InAs and GaAs nanowires, temperature dependence of nanowire growth rate and its dependence on group-III supply ratio are predicted. A guideline to determine the optimum growth conditions of InGaAs nanowires is also discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.