Effect of one monolayer of surface gold atoms on the epitaxial growth of InAs nanowhiskers

Abstract

This letter shows that selective heteroepitaxy of nanometer‐scale InAs whiskers on SiO₂‐patterned GaAs substrates [Yazawa, Koguchi, and Hiruma, Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 1080 (1991)] is induced by surface contamination with Au resulting from the fluorocarbon plasma etching process used to etch the SiO₂ mask. We demonstrate that high densities (≂10¹⁰/cm²) of InAs nanowhiskers 20–30 nm in diameter can be epitaxially grown on InAs(111)B substrates onto which 1 monolayer of Au atoms had been deposited. This wirelike growth appears to be induced by ultrafine alloy droplets generated by the reactions between Au‐clusters and InAs substrates.