Ag-assisted CBE growth of ordered InSb nanowire arrays

摘要

We present growth studies of InSb nanowires grown directly on InSb _((1?1?1?)B) and InAs_((1?1?1?)B) substrates. The nanowires were synthesized in a chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) system and are of cubic zinc blende structure. To initiate nanowire nucleation we used lithographically positioned silver (Ag) seed particles. Up to 87% of the nanowires nucleate at the lithographically pre-defined positions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations furthermore showed that, typically, a parasitic InSb thin film forms on the substrates. This thin film is more pronounced for InSb_((1?1?1?)B) substrates than for InAs_((1?1?1?)B) substrates, where it is completely absent at low growth temperatures. Thus, using InAs _((1?1?1?)B) substrates and growth temperatures below 360 °C free-standing InSb nanowires can be synthesized.