Selective area grown ZnTe nanowires as the basis for quasi-one-dimensional CdTe-HgTe multishell heterostructures

Abstract

Selective area growth is employed in the vapor-liquid-solid molecular beam epitaxy of ZnTe nanowire arrays. Full control over the location of the individual nanowires is achieved by defined positioning of the growth catalyst. This study addresses the influence of substrate material and growth temperature on the yield of vertical nanowires. The optimized procedure provides arrays of single-crystalline free-standing nanowires with a high ensemble uniformity. The nanowires exhibit a uniform shape with a diameter of about 80 nm and reach a length of more than $3\ensuremath{\mu}\text{m}$, which makes them suitable as substrates for core-shell nanowires of the topological insulator material HgTe.