Influence of the group V element on the chemical potential and crystal structure of Au-catalyzed III-V nanowires

We present a kinetic growth model having a particular emphasis on the influence of the group V element on the preferred crystal structure of Au-catalyzed III-V nanowires. The model circumvents the uncertainty in the group V contribution into the overall liquid chemical potential. We show why the nanowire elongation rate is limited by the group III transport, while the crystal structure depends on the effective group V to III imbalance. Within the model, we are able to explain some important structural trends in Au-catalyzed III-V nanowires. In particular, we show that high group V flux always favors wurtzite structure in molecular-beam epitaxy. This tendency could be inverted in vapor deposition techniques due to suppression of the group III diffusion at high group V flux. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.