Influence of catalyst droplet diameter on the growth direction of InP nanowires grown on Si(001) substrate

Abstract

It is demonstrated that the growth direction of InP nanowires grown on (001)-oriented silicon substrate strongly depends on the diameter of the gold catalyst droplets. Small droplets with diameter less than about 15 nm lead to the formation of nanowires leaning on the {111} planes of the zinc blende InP seeds formed in the early stages of growth. Larger droplets lead to the formation of twins in the InP seeds and to the formation of nanowires leaning on the {111} planes of these twinned InP variants, inducing growth directions corresponding to the 〈115〉 directions of the silicon substrate.