III-V nanowires have been fabricated by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy without using Au or other metal particles as a catalyst. Instead, prior to growth, a thin SiOx layer is deposited on the substrates. Wires form on various III-V substrates as well as on Si. They are nontapered in thickness and exhibit a hexagonal cross-section. From high-resolution X-ray diffraction, the epitaxial relation between wires and substrates is demonstrated and their crystal structure is determined.

We directly image the interior of GaAs/AlGaAs axial and radial nanowire heterostructures with atomic-scale resolution using scanning tunneling microscopy. We show that formation of monolayer sharp and smooth axial interfaces are possible even by vapor-phase epitaxy. However, we also find that instability of the ternary alloys formed in the Au seed fundamentally limits axial heterostructure control, inducing large segment asymmetries. We study radial core-shell nanowires, imaging even ultrathin submonolayer shells. We demonstrate how large twinning-induced morphological defects at the wire surfaces can be removed, ensuring the formation of wires with atomically flat sides.

We report on high resolution photoelectron core level spectroscopy (HRCLS) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements of the decomposition of lysine adsorbed on InP(001) substrates. We find that components from the lysine can be present on the InP surface even after annealing to 600 • C and desorption of the native surface oxide. We further observe that while a crystalline surface phase can be observed on the epi-ready surface after annealing, the lysine treated surface still appears rough. We conclude that lysine residues inhibit the formation of a flat crystalline structure on the InP(001) surface. These results are discussed in terms of the lysine promotion of [001] nanowire growth.

Au nanoparticles and Au films for growth of nanowires on the GaAs͑111͒B surface have been studied by a combination of experimental and theoretical techniques. If Au is present in either form, annealing to temperatures relevant for nanowire growth results in the formation of a thin Au wetting layer. Based on density functional theory calculations and experimental data, a structural model is proposed with an Au atom on every third threefold hollow hcp site of the Ga lattice. The authors observe that the stability of Au nanoparticles is governed by the presence of the wetting layer and outdiffusion of Au from the nanoparticles.