Investigation of self-catalyzed GaAs NW growth by Monte Carlo simulation

Using a kinetic lattice Monte Carlo model self-catalyzed growth of GaAs nanowire (NW) on GaAs(111) B surface was realized. Dependence of NW morphology on growth parameters was demonstrated. Existence of optimal temperature and gallium/arsenic flux ratio, corresponding to maximal GaAs nanowire growth rate, was shown. NW growth rate was linearly depended on arsenic flux in wide range of arsenic flux intensity. Obtained decreasing dependence of self-catalyzed NW growth rate on initial catalyst drop diameter was less abrupt than for catalytic growth. The optimal growth temperature of self-catalyzed growth was higher than of catalytic growth. Self-catalyzed growth was demonstrated to be more sensitive to gallium/arsenic flux ratio than catalytic one.