ZnSe nanowires epitaxially grown on GaP(111) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy

We report molecular-beam epitaxy growth of single crystalline ZnSe nanowires with uniform diameters (∼10 nm) on GaP(111) substrates. The growth process was based on the Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid deposition. As determined by electron microdiffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, ZnSe nanowires grew generally along the 〈110〉 and 〈112〉 directions with the orientation relationship of (111)ZnSe wire//(111)GaP and 〈11̄0〉ZnSe wire//〈11̄0〉GaP. The dominant defects were found to be twins at the interface between the substrate and the nanowires along the (111) plane.