TEM investigation of nucleation and initial growth of ZnSe nanowires

Single crystalline ZnSe nanowires were fabricated on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy technique via Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid reaction. The nucleation and initial growth of the nanowires were investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was revealed that Au catalysts initially reacted with the substrate forming binary AuGa2 alloy droplets. The sizes of the catalysts determined the growth direction of ZnSe nanowires. A model based on the surface energies of the nanowire nuclei was proposed to explain the size dependence of growth direction for ZnSe nanowires.