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Bistability of Contact Angle and Its Role in Achieving Quantum-Thin Self-Assisted GaAs nanowires

Kim, Wonjong ; Dubrovskii, Vladimir G ; Vukajlovic-Plestina, Jelena ; Tütüncüoglu, Gözde ; Francaviglia, Luca ; Güniat, Lucas ; Potts, Heidi LU ; Friedl, Martin ; Leran, Jean-Baptiste and Fontcuberta I Morral, Anna (2018) In Nano Letters 18(1). p.49-57
Abstract

Achieving quantum confinement by bottom-up growth of nanowires has so far been limited to the ability of obtaining stable metal droplets of radii around 10 nm or less. This is within reach for gold-assisted growth. Because of the necessity to maintain the group III droplets during growth, direct synthesis of quantum sized structures becomes much more challenging for self-assisted III-V nanowires. In this work, we elucidate and solve the challenges that involve the synthesis of gallium-assisted quantum-sized GaAs nanowires. We demonstrate the existence of two stable contact angles for the gallium droplet on top of GaAs nanowires. Contact angle around 130° fosters a continuous increase in the nanowire radius, while 90° allows for the... (More)

Achieving quantum confinement by bottom-up growth of nanowires has so far been limited to the ability of obtaining stable metal droplets of radii around 10 nm or less. This is within reach for gold-assisted growth. Because of the necessity to maintain the group III droplets during growth, direct synthesis of quantum sized structures becomes much more challenging for self-assisted III-V nanowires. In this work, we elucidate and solve the challenges that involve the synthesis of gallium-assisted quantum-sized GaAs nanowires. We demonstrate the existence of two stable contact angles for the gallium droplet on top of GaAs nanowires. Contact angle around 130° fosters a continuous increase in the nanowire radius, while 90° allows for the stable growth of ultrathin tops. The experimental results are fully consistent with our model that explains the observed morphological evolution under the two different scenarios. We provide a generalized theory of self-assisted III-V nanowires that describes simultaneously the droplet shape relaxation and the NW radius evolution. Bistability of the contact angle described here should be the general phenomenon that pertains for any vapor-liquid-solid nanowires and significantly refines our picture of how nanowires grow. Overall, our results suggest a new path for obtaining ultrathin one-dimensional III-V nanostructures for studying lateral confinement of carriers.

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author
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Nano Letters
volume
18
issue
1
pages
9 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:29257895
  • scopus:85040309472
ISSN
1530-6992
DOI
10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03126
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
00c65411-f3d5-4a5c-964f-546eba887804
date added to LUP
2019-05-15 09:52:08
date last changed
2024-04-02 02:27:29
@article{00c65411-f3d5-4a5c-964f-546eba887804,
  abstract     = {{<p>Achieving quantum confinement by bottom-up growth of nanowires has so far been limited to the ability of obtaining stable metal droplets of radii around 10 nm or less. This is within reach for gold-assisted growth. Because of the necessity to maintain the group III droplets during growth, direct synthesis of quantum sized structures becomes much more challenging for self-assisted III-V nanowires. In this work, we elucidate and solve the challenges that involve the synthesis of gallium-assisted quantum-sized GaAs nanowires. We demonstrate the existence of two stable contact angles for the gallium droplet on top of GaAs nanowires. Contact angle around 130° fosters a continuous increase in the nanowire radius, while 90° allows for the stable growth of ultrathin tops. The experimental results are fully consistent with our model that explains the observed morphological evolution under the two different scenarios. We provide a generalized theory of self-assisted III-V nanowires that describes simultaneously the droplet shape relaxation and the NW radius evolution. Bistability of the contact angle described here should be the general phenomenon that pertains for any vapor-liquid-solid nanowires and significantly refines our picture of how nanowires grow. Overall, our results suggest a new path for obtaining ultrathin one-dimensional III-V nanostructures for studying lateral confinement of carriers.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kim, Wonjong and Dubrovskii, Vladimir G and Vukajlovic-Plestina, Jelena and Tütüncüoglu, Gözde and Francaviglia, Luca and Güniat, Lucas and Potts, Heidi and Friedl, Martin and Leran, Jean-Baptiste and Fontcuberta I Morral, Anna}},
  issn         = {{1530-6992}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{49--57}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Nano Letters}},
  title        = {{Bistability of Contact Angle and Its Role in Achieving Quantum-Thin Self-Assisted GaAs nanowires}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03126}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03126}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}