Control of the crystal structure of InAs nanowires by tuning contributions of adatom diffusion

The dependence of crystal structure on contributions of adatom diffusion (ADD) and precursor direct impingement (DIM) was investigated for vapor-liquid-solid growth of InAs nanowires (NWs). The ADD contributions from the sidewalls and substrate surface can be changed by using GaAs NWs of different length as the basis for growing InAs NWs. We found that pure zinc-blende structure is favored when DIM contributions dominate. Moreover, without changing the NW diameter or growth parameters (such as temperature or V/III ratio), a transition from zinc-blende to wurtzite structure can be realized by increasing the ADD contributions. A nucleation model is proposed in which ADD and DIM contributions play different roles in determining the location and phase of the nucleus.