Focused ion beam induced growth of monocrystalline InAs nanowires

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the growth of high-aspect-ratio, monocrystalline InAs nanowires via molecular beam epitaxy induced by focused ion beam implantation, optimizing parameters to control morphology and crystalline quality.

Contribution

It introduces a novel combination of FIB and MBE for site-controlled growth of monocrystalline InAs nanowires with high aspect ratios and low defect density.

Findings

Achieved aspect ratios up to 300 in InAs NWs.

Optimized growth parameters for monocrystalline, low-defect NWs.

Demonstrated site-controlled placement of individual NWs.

Abstract

We investigate monocrystalline InAs nanowires (NWs) which are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and induced by focused ion beam (FIB) implanted Au spots. With this unique combination of methods an increase of the aspect ratio, i.e. the length to width ratio, of the grown NWs up to 300 was achieved. To control the morphology and crystalline structure of the NWs, the growth parameters like temperature, flux ratios and implantation fluence are varied and optimized. Furthermore, the influence of the used molecular arsenic species, in particular the As$_2$ to As$_4$ ratio, is investigated and adjusted. In addition to the high aspect ratio, this optimization results in the growth of monocrystalline InAs NWs with a negligible number of stacking faults. Single NWsx were placed site-controlled by FIB implantation, which supplements the working field of area growth.