Different growth rates for catalyst-induced and self-induced GaN nanowires

The catalyst- and self-induced pathways of GaN nanowire growth by molecular beam epitaxy are compared. The catalyst-induced nanowires elongate faster than the self-induced ones and their growth rate is fully determined by the impinging N rate. The self-induced nanowire growth rate is identical on both Si(111) and Si(001) and approaches the impinging N rate only for the few longest nanowires. This difference is attributed to the presence of the Ni-catalyst which enhances the incorporation of Ga at the nanowire tip while for the self-induced nanowires, growth is limited by the different incorporation rates on the nanowire tip and sidewall facets.