Modelling of InGaP nanowires morphology and composition on molecular beam epitaxy growth conditions

Abstract

An analytical kinetic model has been developed within this framework to describe the growth of ternary III-V semiconductor nanowires. The key to apply the model is to divide the ternary system into two separate binary systems and model each binary system separately. The model is used to describe the growth of InGaP nanowires. The growth conditions were varied among several samples, and the model was able to predict the temperature and growth rate behaviors. The model predicts the axial and radial elemental distribution along the nanowires and the dependence of the elemental distribution on the nanowire's diameter size for all growth rates. The model reveals the limitations of In incorporation into the nanowires for high temperatures or low growth rates and the effects of the group-V elements on the In incorporation.

Understanding the growth and composition evolution of gold-seeded ternary InGaAs nanowires

“…InGaAs material also has a very high carrier mobility (μ e = ∼10 000 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , μ h = ∼300 cm 2 V −1 s −1 ), which is highly interesting for monolithic integration with state-of-the-art complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. 10,11 Despite recent interest, 12,13 true understanding and modeling of ternary III-V nanowires obtained by the VLS mechanism with Au catalysts is still lacking. This is due to several issues such as: (i) complex equilibrium phase diagrams and nonequilibrium chemical potentials of quaternary alloys such as Au-Ga-In-As in our case, 14 (ii) uncertainties in determining the composition of the initial critical nucleus even if both Au droplet and solid compositions were exactly known, (iii) absence of any data on relevant surface energies of different interfaces and (iv) lack of reliable data on the kinetic parameters (diffusion lengths, desorption rates of As etc.)…”

Quaternary Chemical Potentials for Gold-Catalyzed Growth of Ternary InGaAs Nanowires

“…III–V nanowires (NWs) grown by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth method have proven to be efficient semiconductor nanomaterials for fundamental studies as well as optoelectronic applications. − The highly desired bandgap tunability and carrier confinement require synthesis of ternary NWs and heterostructures within such NWs. Consequently, there has been large recent interest in ternary III–V NWs and, in particular, in InGaAs NWs and NW heterostructures. − On one hand, synthesis of dissimilar ternary III–V nanomaterials in the NW form is simplified by the fact that NWs are less restricted by the lattice mismatch. , On the other hand, when ternary NWs and NW heterostructures grow by the VLS mechanism through the droplet, their composition does not exactly follow the vapor composition, in contrast with the case of vapor–solid core–shell structures . Therefore, the VLS growth process needs to be optimized in order to yield the required properties of ternary NWs, and this requires comprehensive modeling.…”

Assembling your nanowire: an overview of composition tuning in ternary III–V nanowires

“…Structurally, the nanowires showed a primarily wurtzite crystal structure with a small amount of zincblende, which decreased with increasing group III flux. The same authors later presented a growth model for these nanowires with which they could explain the observed features [61]. The model is based on mass transport where the constituting materials, GaP and InP, are handled separately and Ga and In are considered the limiting species.…”