Nanowire morphology and particle phase control by tuning the In concentration of the foreign metal nanoparticle.

Controllable particle assisted growth (PAG) of III-V nanowires is today almost exclusively done with Au, Ga or In nanoparticles, whereas other metals often yield nanowires with uncontrolled growth directions. To improve the control of the initial growth direction in PAG, independent of choice of metal, we propose to initiate nanowire growth from a group-III-rich foreign metal particle. For III-V nanowire growth, the group III concentration of the particle can be made to increase or decrease with the relative supply of group III and group V material, which can be used to promote the liquid phase that is necessary for vapor-liquid-solid growth.