Orientation and Structure of Controllable GaAs Nanowires Grown on GaAs (311)B Substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxiy

GaAs nanowires (NWs) are grown on GaAs (311)B substrates by gold assisted molecular beam epitaxy technology. Combined scanning and transmission electron microscopy analyses, the crystallographic orientations of NWs are studied. It is found that crystallographic orientations of NWs are closely related to their crystal structures: NWs of zinc blende structure grow along 〈001〉 directions and NWs of wurtzite structure grow along 〈0001〉 directions. The influence of impinging Ga flux on morphology and crystal structure of the NWs is also discussed. It is observed that NWs prefer to grow along zinc blende 〈001〉 directions at lower Ga flux, while NWs tend to grow along the wurtzite 〈0001〉 directions with only a small portion along the zinc blende 〈001〉 direction at a higher Ga flux. The control of crystal structure and orientation of NWs can be achieved effectively by changing the Ga flux.