Free-standing and vertically aligned InP nanowires grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxial technique has been used to grow surface mounted vertical and uniform cross-sectional InP nanowires on a wafer scale basis. The growth was carried out under the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism using Au colloidal nanoparticles of nominal diameters of 10 and 20 nm, and their properties were compared. The effect of the pre-growth anneals and growth temperatures on the stability of the nanowires were studied in detail. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopic studies showed average diameter of the nanowires in the range of 20-35 nm, and of length 700 nm with growth direction of <111>. Room temperature photoluminescence measurements of the nanowires grown on 10 and 20 mn Au particles showed strong peaks, which were blue shifted by 25 and 32 meV, respectively, compared to bulk InP. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.