Novel growth phenomena observed in axial InAs/GaAs nanowire heterostructures

Growth behavior in Axial InAs/GaAs nanowire heterostructures was observed as they have important applications in optoelectronics. The physical phenomena, which resulted in the failure of axial InAs nanowire growth on GaAs nanowires, was demonstrated. The vapor-liquid-solid (VPS) method was used for the growth of nanowire heterostructures. The changes in the growth directions of nanowires were studied by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which lead to the growth failure of InAs Axial growth on the GaAs nanowires. The catalyst used for the growth of the InAs/GaAs nanowires was gold. TEM investigations have determined that the initial InAs clustering at the edge of an Au/GaAs interface results in Au particles that are unbalanced with the GaAs surface and wetting between the Au and the GaAs nanowire sidewalls results in the downward growth of InAs, in which InAs nanowire sections have an epitaxial relationship with GaAs sections.