TEM characterization of MBE grown CdTe/ZnTe axial nanowires

CdTe/ZnTe axial nanowires were successfully fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy with the use of Au nano-catalysts and vapour-liquid-solid growth mechanism. Nanowires had zinc-blende structure with numerous stacking faults in the bottom ZnTe part and near perfect crystalline structure in the top CdTe part. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and lattice fringe spacing analysis revealed nonabrupt nature of hetero-interface, whose width was estimated to be 50-70 nm for the nanowires having a diameter in the range from 40 to 50 nm.