title: Heterogeneous nucleation of catalyst-free InAs nanowires on silicon.
abstract: We report on the heterogeneous nucleation of catalyst-free InAs nanowires on Si(111) substrates by chemical beam epitaxy. We show that nanowire nucleation is enhanced by sputtering the silicon substrate with energetic particles. We argue that particle bombardment introduces lattice defects on the silicon surface that serve as preferential nucleation sites. The formation of these nucleation sites can be controlled by the sputtering parameters, allowing the control of nanowire density in a wide range. Nanowire nucleation is accompanied by unwanted parasitic islands, but careful choice of annealing and growth temperature allows us to strongly reduce the relative density of these islands and to realize samples with high nanowire yield.
authors.affiliation: NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore and Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: U P
authors.initials: UP
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ercolani
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zannier
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Battiato
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ubyivovk
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mikhailovskii
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heun
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beltram
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sorba