Formation of pure GaAs nanotubes driven by surface stress imbalance

摘要

We demonstrate a mechanism for fabricating pure GaAs nanotubes by molecular dynamics simulation. We show the reconstruction of GaAs(001) surface may induce a large stress imbalance between the top and bottom surfaces in a GaAs nanofilm. Driven by such intrinsic surface-stress imbalance, a flat GaAs nanofilm with reconstructed surfaces may self-bend into a nanotube. Our findings suggest the possibility of using ultrathin single layer of GaAs films alone to fabricate pure GaAs nanotubes by manipulating their surface structure.