(658e) Self-Catalyzed Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth of InPSb Alloy Nanostructures

We report the growth of group III-V compound InP1-xSbx alloy nanostructures via vapor-liquid-solid process using liquid indium as the catalyst directly on the InP(111)B substrate. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies, electron diffraction, and energy dispersive spectroscopy are used to determine the morphology, crystallinity, and composition of as-grown nanostructures. Using a fixed V/III ratio, we obtain InP1-xSbx wires with pure zinc blende phase at low temperatures. Increasing the growth temperature induces the formation of conical and pillar-shaped nanostructures that exhibit a mixture of zinc blende and wurtzite phases and increasing amounts of Sb. Photoluminescence spectra at 77 K yielded a single intense band at 0.98 eV (1.26 ìm) due to antimonide incorporated into the nanostructures. Our results suggest that InP1-xSbx nanostructures with desired shape, crystal structure, and composition can be grown using liquid indium as the catalyst. We expect that our results are general and applicable to the growth of other group III-V alloy compounds.