Growth and Structural Characterization of Self-Nucleated III-Nitride Nanowires

Abstract We review the self-nucleation process of GaN nanowires grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The role of GaN/Si (111) and of AlN/Si (111) interface chemistry is shown to be determinant and is analyzed in details. The crucial issue of GaN crystalline polarity is shown to depend on both interface chemistry and GaN facet surface energy. The structural properties of self-nucleated GaN NWs are next discussed, with a peculiar focus on stacking faults and inversion domains.