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Semiconductor nanostructures are desirable for electronics, photonics, quantum circuitry, and energy conversion applications as well as for fundamental science. In photonics, optical nanoantennas mediate the large size difference between photons and semiconductor nanoemitters or detectors and hence are instrumental for exhibiting high efficiency. In this work we present epitaxially grown InP nanoflags as optically active nanostructures encapsulating the desired characteristics of a photonic emitter and an efficient epitaxial nanoantenna. We experimentally characterize the polarized and directional emission of the nanoflag-antenna and show the control of these properties by means of structure, dimensions, and constituents. We analyze field enhancement and light extraction by the semiconductor nanoflag antenna, which yield comparable values to enhancement factors of metallic plasmonic antennas. We incorporated quantum emitters within the nanoflag structure and characterized their emission properties. Merging of active nanoemitters with nanoantennas at a single growth process enables a new class of devices to be used in nanophotonics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the selective area vapor-liquid-solid (SA-VLS) growth of InP/GaP core shell nano-wires (NWs) by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy. Wurtzite crystal structure of the core InP was transferred to the GaP shell through layer by layer radial growth which eliminated bending of the NWs in random directions. Low growth temperature restricted surface segregation and kept the shell free from indium. Strain in the GaP shell was partially relaxed through formation of periodic misfit dislocations. From the periodicity of Moiré fringes and splitting of the fast-Fourier-transform of the transmission electron micrographs, the radial and axial strain were determined as 4.5% and 6.2%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study of indium phosphide nanowires grown by the selective area vapor liquid solid technique using metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that nanowires grown at a temperature of up to 450°C had a pure wurtzite structure, but at 480°C a mixed wurtzite–zincblend structure was obtained. We also accurately measured the migration length of growth precursors along the side facets of the nanowires by monitoring the length of the non-tapered section of the nanowire adjacent to the gold catalyst. The migration length was found to be of the order of 0.3–0.7µm and to depend on the diameter of the nanowire. Up to the growth temperature of 450°C the migration length was temperature independent, but it increased dramatically to more than 2µm when the nanowires were grown at 480°C. Possible explanations for the observed effects are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indium phosphide nanowires were grown by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy using the selective-area vapor–liquid–solid method. We show experimentally and theoretically that the size of the annular opening around the nanowire has a major impact on nanowire growth rate. In addition, we observed a considerable reduction of the growth rate in dense two-dimensional arrays, in agreement with a calculation of the shadowing of the scattered precursors. Due to the impact of these effects on growth, they should be considered during selective-area vapor–liquid–solid nanowire epitaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling nanomaterial shape beyond its basic dimensionality is a concurrent challenge tackled by several growth and processing avenues. One of these is strain engineering of nanowires, implemented through the growth of asymmetrical heterostructures. Here, we report metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy of bent InP/InAs core/shell nanowires brought by precursor flow directionality in the growth chamber. We observe the increase of bending with decreased core diameter. We further analyze the composition of a single nanowire and show through supporting finite element simulations that strain accommodation following the lattice mismatch between InP and InAs dominates nanowire bending. The simulations show the interplay between material composition, shell thickness, and tapering in determining the bending. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental bending curvature, reproducing the radius of 4.3 µm (±10%), for the 2.3 µm long nanowire. The InP core of the bent heterostructure was found to be compressed at about 2%. This report provides evidence of shape control and strain engineering in nanostructures, specifically through the exchange of group-V materials in III–V nanowire growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling the transition from axial to radial growth is essential for advanced III–V nanowire (NW) technology. Growth temperature and precursor flux affect this transition in a complicated manner. Here, we report on experiments designed to map the axial to radial growth transition of InP NWs prepared by the selective-area vapor–liquid–solid method during metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy. An optimized growth procedure for axial to radial switching was obtained, maintaining the pure wurtzite crystal phase of the NWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the growth of single phase wurtzite (WZ) GaP nanowires (NWs) on GaP (111) B substrates by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy following the selective area vapor–liquid–solid (SA-VLS) approach. During the SA-VLS process, precursors are supplied directly to the NW sidewalls, and the short diffusion length of gallium (or its precursors) does not significantly limit axial growth. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that no stacking faults are present along a 600 nm long NW. The lattice constants of the pure WZ GaP obtained from the TEM images agree with values determined previously by x-ray diffraction from non-pure NW ensembles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to engineer material properties at the nanoscale is a crucial prerequisite for nanotechnology. Hereunder, we suggest and demonstrate a novel approach to realize non-hemispherically shaped nanowire catalysts, subsequently used to grow InP nanowires with a cross section anisotropy ratio of up to 1:1.8. Gold was deposited inside high aspect ratio nanotrenches in a 5 nm thick SiNx selective area mask; inside the growth chamber, upon heating to 455 °C, the thin gold stripes agglomerated, resulting in an ellipsoidal dome (hemiellipsoid). The initial shape of the catalyst was preserved during growth to realize asymmetrically cross-sectioned nanowires. Moreover, the crystalline nature of the nanowire side facets was found to depend on the nano-trench orientation atop the substrate, resulting in hexagonal or octagonal cross-sections when the nano-trenches are aligned or misaligned with the [1̄10] orientation atop a [111]B substrate. These results establish the role of catalyst shape as a unique tool to engineer nanowire growth, potentially allowing further control over its physical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present experimental results showing how the growth rate, morphology and crystal structure of Au-catalyzed InP nanowires (NWs) fabricated by selective area metal organic molecular beam epitaxy can be tuned by the growth parameters: temperature and phosphine flux. The InP NWs with 20–65 nm diameters are grown at temperatures of 420 and 480 °C with the PH3 flow varying from 1 to 9 sccm. The NW tapering is suppressed at a higher temperature, while pure wurtzite crystal structure is preferred at higher phosphine flows. Therefore, by combining high temperature and high phosphine flux, we are able to fabricate non-tapered and stacking fault-free InP NWs with the quality that other methods rarely achieve. We also develop a model for NW growth and crystal structure which explains fairly well the observed experimental tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a theoretical analysis of vertical versus radial growth of InP nanowires obtained by selective area metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy at temperatures from 400 to 480 °C. It is shown that the nanowire formation is controlled by surface diffusion of indium adatoms whose concentration on the sidewalls determines the local radial growth rate. Two models for the radial growth rate are considered, with linear (step flow) and exponential (two-dimensional nucleation) dependences on the adatom concentration. The linear model reproduces fairly well the vertical elongation rate and the observed shapes of the upper nanowire parts, while the non-linear shapes at the nanowire bottom are described correctly only within the exponential model. We estimate the effective migration lengths of indium, which are of the order of several hundreds of nanometers between 400 and 450 °C. The migration length increases up to 2200 nm at 480 °C so that radial growth is completely suppressed at this high growth temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]