MBE Growth of AlN Nanowires on Si Substrates by Aluminizing Nucleation

By introducing an aluminization process to achieve nucleation of nanowires (NWs), spontaneous growth of AlN NWs on Si substrates has been realized by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The AlN NWs are grown from the nuclei formed by the aluminization process, and the NW density and diameter can be controlled by the aluminization parameters. The influence of growth conditions on the morphologies of AlN NWs is carefully investigated. Island-like films are found to grow between the NWs due to poor migration ability of Al adatoms. The films are proved to be Al-polar different from the N-polar AlN NWs, which can explain the absence of newly formed NWs. Increasing the V/III ratio can efficiently suppress the growth of Al-polar AlN films.