Role of nucleation in the nanowire growth and properties

Nucleation of two-dimensional islands from a liquid alloy is generally considered as one of the most important processes driving the ldquovapour-liquid-solidrdquo catalyst-assisted growth of semiconductor nanowires. This talk presents an overview of theoretical and experimental results concerning the influence of nucleation on the morphology and structure of different III-V nanowires. In particular, it will be shown that nucleation at the triple line leads to the formation of hexagonal wurtzite crystal phase in nanowires of zinc blende III-V materials.