Selective Nucleation of GaAs on Si Nanofacets

The early growth stage of GaAs by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy on a novel kind of Si substrate is investigated. The substrate consists of nanotips (NTs) fabricated on a Si(001) wafer by means of lithography and reactive ion etching. 3D GaAs nanocrystals are found to nucleate with a probability of 90% on the (n0m), (-n0m), (0nm), and (0-nm) facets (n, m integers) of these NTs. Additionally, in terms of nucleation yield, an average of 2 GaAs nanocrystals in each of those facets is observed. By contrast, facets of type {±nnm} remain virtually free of any 3D nuclei. A simple model based on the kinetics of the growth is used to explain the facet selective 3D nucleation. The model is consistent with a similar selectivity observed on micrometer-sized substrate features.