In-Plane III-V Nanowires on Si(110) with Quantum Wells by Selective Epitaxy in Templates

Heterointerfaces and quantum wells were realized in III-V nanowires monolithically grown from a silicon seed inside a silicon oxide template on a silicon-on-insulator wafer. InP, InGaAs, InAs, and GaAs were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The yield of nanowires with a well-defined single-facet {1 1 1} (B )growth front was assessed using scanning electron microscopy, reaching 92.55%. Scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis revealed good composition control and the formation of sharp single-faceted quantum wells throughout the sample. The robustness of the process was further demonstrated by a forced merger of individual nanowires into one large crystal. In this sample, the quantum wells were as well defined as those in the single-seed nanowires. At the same time, we did not observe the formation of any dislocations at the merge location.