Institute of Physical Engineering, Brno University of Technology , Technická 2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic.
Nano Lett. 2014;14(4):1756-61. doi: 10.1021/nl404159x. Epub 2014 Mar 13.
A liquid droplet sitting on top of a pillar is crucially important for semiconductor nanowire growth via a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. For the growth of long and straight nanowires, it has been assumed so far that the droplet is pinned to the nanowire top and any instability in the droplet position leads to nanowire kinking. Here, using real-time in situ scanning electron microscopy during germanium nanowire growth, we show that the increase or decrease in the droplet wetting angle and subsequent droplet unpinning from the growth interface may also result in the growth of straight nanowires. Because our argumentation is based on terms and parameters common for VLS-grown nanowires, such as the geometry of the droplet and the growth interface, these conclusions are likely to be relevant to other nanowire systems.
在通过汽-液-固（VLS）机制生长半导体纳米线的过程中，位于支柱顶部的液滴至关重要。迄今为止，人们一直认为，为了生长出又长又直的纳米线，液滴被固定在纳米线的顶部，液滴位置的任何不稳定性都会导致纳米线弯曲。在这里，我们在锗纳米线生长过程中使用实时原位扫描电子显微镜，表明液滴润湿角的增加或减少以及随后液滴从生长界面上的解固，也可能导致直纳米线的生长。由于我们的论证是基于 VLS 生长纳米线的常用术语和参数，例如液滴和生长界面的几何形状，因此这些结论可能与其他纳米线系统相关。
