The running liquid Ga droplets on GaAs surface (001) are presented and analyzed by scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. Self-motion of Ga droplet on GaAs surface is confirmed by microscope measurements. The liquid droplets are found to move with an initial critical diameter and constantly increase size during motion. The critical diameter of moving Ga droplets is observed to be 1.9 μm on GaAs (011) surface at preparation temperature 680 °C. A linear relationship is found between droplet diameter and trail length. These experiment results are qualitatively analyzed to understand the phenomenon of self-running Ga droplets on GaAs surface.

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In this paper, the formation of Ga droplets on photo-lithographically patterned GaAs (100) and the control of the size and density of Ga droplets by droplet epitaxy using molecular beam epitaxy are demonstrated. In extension of our previous result from the journal Physical Status Solidi A, volume 209 in 2012, the sharp contrast of the size and density of Ga droplets is clearly observed by high-resolution scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Also, additional monolayer (ML) coverage is added to strength the result. The density of droplets is an order of magnitude higher on the trench area (etched area), while the size of droplets is much larger on the strip top area (un-etched area). A systematic variation of ML coverage results in an establishment of the control of size and density of Ga droplets. The cross-sectional line profile analysis and root mean square roughness analysis show that the trench area (etched area) is approximately six times rougher. The atomic surface roughness is suggested to be the main cause of the sharp contrast of the size and density of Ga droplets and is discussed in terms of surface diffusion.

Controlled positioning and ordering of uniform self-assembled droplets on a patterned GaAs (100) substrate is demonstrated using a Ga+ focused ion beam. The arrangement of the droplets into an array of droplet chains is induced by changes in the surface morphology during irradiation as a function of sputtering time. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy reveals that the droplets are Ga-rich. The patterned surface may be of interest for plasmonic studies and may find application as a template for site-specific epitaxial growth of unstrained quantum dot chains utilizing local droplet etching and droplet epitaxy techniques.

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