Abstract
We investigate the correlation between the Ga concentration of the catalyst droplet and the adopted crystal structure of individual GaAs nanowires grown by molecular-beam epitaxy using Au as a catalyst material. Through a postgrowth analysis the Ga content of the catalyst droplet during growth is estimated and related to the observed crystal structure of the nanowires. Depending on the Ga concentration, we observe a transition from typical Au catalyzed to pseudo-Ga assisted nanowire growth: Nanowires with low Ga concentration of the catalyst droplet during growth form predominantly wurtzite crystal structures. For Ga concentrations higher than 75 at. %, which we refer to as the pseudo-Ga assisted growth mode, the probability to form zinc-blende segments is strongly enhanced owing to the reduced droplet surface energy of the catalyst.
- Received 7 September 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.245450
©2012 American Physical Society