Keitaro Ikejiri

Zinc blende and wurtzite crystal phase mixing and transition in indium phosphide nanowires.

Indium phosphide (InP) nanowires, which have crystal phase mixing and transition from zinc blende (ZB) to wurtzite (WZ), are grown in intermediate growth conditions between ZB and WZ by using selective-area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (SA-MOVPE). The shape of InP nanowires is tapered unlike ZB or WZ nanowires. A growth model has been developed for the tapered nanowires, which is simply described as the relationship between tapered angle and the ratio of ZB and WZ segments. In addition, the peak energy shift in photoluminescence measurement was attributed to the quantum confinement effect of the quantum well of the ZB region located in the polytypic structure of ZB and WZ in nanowires.

GaAs nanowire growth on polycrystalline silicon thin films using selective-area MOVPE.

The growth mechanism of GaAs nanowires (NWs) grown on polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films using selective-area metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy was investigated. Wire structures were selectively grown in the mask openings on a poly-Si substrate. The appearance ratio of wire structures strongly depended on the growth conditions and deposition temperature of the poly-Si substrate. Evaluation of the grown shapes and growth characteristics revealed that GaAs NWs grown on a poly-Si substrate have the same growth mechanism as conventional GaAs NWs grown on a single-crystalline GaAs or Si substrate. Experiments showed that the wire structure yield can be improved by increasing the Si grain size and/or increasing the Si deposition temperature. The growth model proposed for understanding NW growth on poly-Si is based on the mask opening size, the Si grain size, and the growth conditions. The ability to control the growth mode is promising for the formation of NWs with complex structures on poly-Si thin layers.

Bidirectional Growth of Indium Phosphide Nanowires

We present a bidirectional growth mode of InP nanowires grown by selective-area metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (SA-MOVPE). We studied the effect of the supply ratio of DEZn ([DEZn]) on InP grown structure morphology and crystal structures during the SA-MOVPE. Two growth regimes were observed in the investigated range of the [DEZn] on an InP(111)B substrate. At low [DEZn], grown structures formed tripod structures featuring three nanowires branched toward the [111]A directions. At high [DEZn], we obtained hexagonal pillar-type structures vertically grown on the (111)B substrate. These results show that the growth direction changes from [111]A to [111]B as [DEZn] is increased. We propose a growth mechanism based on the correlation between the incident facet of rotational twins and the shapes of the grown structures. Our results bring us one step closer to controlling the direction of nanowires on a Si substrate that has a nonpolar nature. They can also be applied to the development of InP nanowire devices.

Indium-Rich InGaP Nanowires Formed on InP (111)A Substrates by Selective-Area Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

We studied the growth of indium-rich InGaP nanowires (NWs) on InP (111)A substrates by selective-area metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (SA-MOVPE). We obtained vertically aligned InGaP NWs by optimizing growth conditions, such as group III supply ratio and V/III ratio. We found that the height, diameter, shape, and composition of InGaP NWs depended significantly on the supply ratios of trimethylgallium (TMGa) and trimethylindium (TMIn). As the supply ratio of TMGa was increased, the lateral growth was drastically enhanced, and the uniformity of NWs deteriorated. Furthermore, the sidewall facets of NWs changed from {211} to {110} as the supply ratio of TMGa was increased, indicating the possibility of structural transition from wurtzite (WZ) to zinc blende (ZB). We propose a possible growth model for such lateral growth, uniformity, and structural transition. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed that the Ga compositions ranged approximately from 0 to 15%. Our results show that highly uniform InGaP NWs can be grown by controlling the growth conditions.