Aligned Growth of ZnCdSe Nano-arrowheads

Aligned ZnCdSe alloy nanostructures have been grown on GaAs (100) substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Scanning electron microscopy observations find that they resemble nano-arrowheads in having three-blades, and their long axis is aligned along either the [11̅1] or the [111̅] direction of the substrate. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the blades of the nano-arrowhead have a (01̅13) twin relationship with each other and that their flat surface is close to (2̅110). Cathodoluminescence studies reveal that non-radiative recombination centers are localized at the twin boundaries. A four-step growth process, combining epitaxy, stacking fault generation, nanotetrapod nucleation, and vapor−liquid−solid growth, is suggested to understand the three-bladed morphology and alignment directions of the nano-arrowheads