Au-seeded growth of vertical and in-plane III-V nanowires on graphite substrates

Graphene is promising as a transparent, flexible, and possibly cost-effective substrate for nanowire-based devices. We have investigated Au-seeded III-V nanowire growth with graphite as a model substrate. The highest yield of undoped vertical nanowires was found for InAs, but we also observed vertical nanowires for the InP, GaP, and GaAs materials. The yield of vertical nanowires for GaP and GaAs was strongly improved by supplying the p-dopant DEZn before nanowire growth but not by supplying H2S or HCl. In-plane GaAs and GaP nanowire growth exhibited an unexpected behavior, where the seed particles seemingly reflected on the side facets of other nanowires. These results pave the way for vertical and in-plane hybrid graphene- nanowire devices.