Effect of Si(111) Surface Modification by Ga Focused Ion Beam at 30 kV on GaAs Nanowire Growth

This paper presents the results of experimental studies of the effect of Si(111) surface modification by Ga-focused ion beam (FIB) at 30 kV accelerating voltage on the features of the epitaxial GaAs nanowire (NW) growth processes. We experimentally established the regularities of the Ga ions’ dose effect during surface modification on the structural characteristics of GaAs NW arrays. Depending on the Ga ion dose value, there is one of three modes on the surface for subsequent GaAs NW growth. At low doses, the NW growth is almost completely suppressed. The growth mode of high-density (up to 6.56 µm−2) GaAs NW arrays with a maximum fraction (up to 70%) of nanowires normally oriented to the substrate is realized in the medium ion doses range. A continuous polycrystalline base with a dense array of misoriented short (up to 0.9 µm) and thin (up to 27 nm) GaAs NWs is formed at high doses. We assume that the key role is played by the interaction of the implanted Ga ions with the surface at various process stages and its influence on the surface structure in the modification region and on GaAs NW growth conditions.