Planar vs Non-Planar Orientation in AuAg-Catalyzed InP Nanowire Growth

InP nanowires were catalyzed by Au, Ag,and Au x Ag1-x nanoparticleson GaAs substrates with various orientations. Statistical analysisand modeling revealed that the droplet surface density to In precursorflux ratio is crucial in controlling nanowire growth mode and orientation.These findings enhance our understanding of planar nanowire vapor-liquid-solidgrowth and offer tools for controlling III-V nanowire growthon lattice-mismatched substrates. Nanowire integration into currentprocessing technologiesremainsan important challenge regarding scalable device fabrication, particularlyfor metal-catalyzed III-V nanowires integrated with Si-basedelectronics. Controlling nanowire orientation, either in or out ofa substrate plane, by using different metal catalysts may work asa tool to address these issues. Here, we report an extensive investigationof InP nanowires catalyzed by Au, Ag, and Au x Ag1-x nanoparticles grownon GaAs substrates with different orientations. Using statisticalanalysis of the experimental data and modeling, we show that the ratioof the droplet surface density over the In precursor flux is the keyparameter controlling the nanowire growth mode and spatial orientation.Overall, these results provide further understanding of the vapor-liquid-solidgrowth of planar nanowires and allow us to find tools for the controlof growth orientation of III-V nanowires catalyzed by differentmetallic nanoparticles on lattice-mismatched substrates.

Automated summary

InP nanowires were catalyzed by Au, Ag, and Au-Ag nanoparticles on GaAs substrates with different orientations. Statistical analysis and modeling demonstrated that the ratio of droplet surface density to In precursor flux is critical in controlling nanowire growth mode and orientation. These findings enhance our understanding of planar nanowire vapor-liquid-solid growth and provide tools for controlling III-V nanowire growth on lattice-mismatched substrates.