Vapor fluxes on the apical droplet during nanowire growth by molecular beam epitaxy

During nanowire growth by the vapor-liquid-solid method, part of the atoms incorporated in the nanowire originate from the direct impingement of a vapor beam on the droplet sitting at the top of the nanowire. For a given incident directional flux, as pertains to molecular beam epitaxy, we calculate the variations of this contribution as a function of the beam incidence angle and of the droplet contact angle. This provides a quantitative evaluation of a major contribution to the supply of atoms to the growing nanowire, which can be directly incorporated in growth models. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim