Post-nucleation evolution of the liquid-solid interface in nanowire growth.

We study using in situ transmission electron microscopy the birth of GaAs nanowires from liquid Au-Ga catalysts on amorphous substrates. Lattice-resolved observations of the starting stages of growth are reported here for the first time. It reveals how the initial nanostructure evolves into a nanowire growing in a zincblende <111> or the equivalent wurtzite <0001> direction. This growth direction(s) is what is typically observed in most III-V and II-VI nanowires. However, the reason for this preferential nanowire growth along this direction is still a dilemma. Based on the videos recorded shortly after the nucleation of nanowires, we argue that the lower catalyst droplet-nanowire interface energy of the {111} facet when zincblende (or the equivalent {0001} facet in wurtzite) is the reason for this direction selectivity in nanowires.