title: Beneficial defects: exploiting the intrinsic polishing-induced wafer roughness for the catalyst-free growth of Ge in-plane nanowires.
abstract: We outline a metal-free fabrication route of in-plane Ge nanowires on Ge(001) substrates. By positively exploiting the polishing-induced defects of standard-quality commercial Ge(001) wafers, micrometer-length wires are grown by physical vapor deposition in ultra-high-vacuum environment. The shape of the wires can be tailored by the epitaxial strain induced by subsequent Si deposition, determining a progressive transformation of the wires in SiGe faceted quantum dots. This shape transition is described by finite element simulations of continuous elasticity and gives hints on the equilibrium shape of nanocrystals in the presence of tensile epitaxial strain.
  81.07.Gf; 68.35.bg; 68.35.bj; 62.23.Eg.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Hönggerbergring 64, Zürich 8093, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Persichetti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome 0133, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sgarlata
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome 0133, Italy ; Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Impresa, 'Mario Lucertini', via del Politecnico 1, Rome 00133, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Institute for Future Environments and School of Chemistry, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Notarianni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome 0133, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cherubini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome 0133, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fanfoni
authors.affiliation: Institute for Future Environments and School of Chemistry, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia.
authors.forename: Nunzio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata', Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, Rome 0133, Italy.
authors.forename: Adalberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balzarotti
keywords: Epitaxy; Germanium; Nanowires; Quantum dots; Silicon
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