Selective Area Growth by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy and Optical Properties of InAs Nanowire Arrays

Abstract

We report on the selective area growth of InAs nanowires (NWs) by the catalyst-free vapor-solid method. Well-ordered InAs NWs were grown on GaAs(111)B and Si(111) substrates patterned with a dielectric mask using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). Vertical and high aspect ratio InAs NWs with a hexagonal shape were grown on both GaAs and Si substrates. The impact of the growth conditions on the InAs morphology was investigated. The final shape of the InAs crystal was tuned from a NW to a nanoplatelet by controlling growth conditions such as growth temperature, vapor phase composition, and mask pattern. The influence of the aperture size on the nucleation density and then on the morphology of InAs is discussed. Small openings resulted in the formation of a single nucleus per hole, which was then converted to a NW. For larger apertures, the number of nuclei increased, leading to both three-dimensional crystals and NWs. The effect of growth temperature and the III/V ratio on the kinetics and thermodynamics of InAs growth is also discussed. The growth was first optimized on a GaAs(111)B substrate and then performed on Si, which is more suitable to develop devices. Finally, the absorbance and photoluminescence measurements were carried out on the InAs NW arrays, demonstrating the high potential of HVPE-grown InAs NWs for future multispectral photo-detection devices.