International audienceThe formation mechanisms of GaN nanowires grown on a SixNy amorphous interlayer within a self-induced approach by molecular beam epitaxy have been investigated by combining in situ reflection high-energy electron-diffraction measurements with ex situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging. It is found that GaN initially nucleates as spherical cap-shaped islands with a wetting angle of 42 +/- 7 degrees. Subsequently, these islands coarsen and undergo a shape transition toward the nanowire morphology at an experimental critical radius of 5 nm. As the epitaxial constraint is very weak on an amorphous interlayer, the equivalent Laplace pressure due to the effects of surface stress has been taken into account. Analytical and finite-element method calculations show that the Laplace pressure results at the nanoscale dimensions in significant volume elastic strain in both spherical caps and nanowires. From thermodynamic considerations, it is revealed that the related strain energy density is slightly in favor of the shape transition toward the nanowire geometry owing to its higher ability to relieve the strain. Nevertheless, the anisotropy of surface energy is an even stronger driving force, since the nanowires are composed of c- and m-planes with very low surface energies. It is deduced that an energy barrier does exit for the shape transition and may be related to edge effects, resulting in a growth condition-dependent critical radius

International audienceThe formation mechanisms of epitaxial GaN nanowires grown within a self-induced approach by molecular-beam epitaxy have been investigated at the onset of the nucleation process by combining in situ reflection high-energy electron-diffraction measurements and ex situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging. It is shown that the self-induced growth of GaN nanowires on the AlN buffer layer is initially governed by the nucleation of dislocation-free coherent islands. These coherent islands develop through a series of shape transitions from spherical caps through truncated to full pyramids in order to elastically relieve the lattice-mismatch-induced strain. A strong correlation between the subsequent process of plastic relaxation and the final shape transition from full pyramids toward the very first nanowires is found. The experimental critical radius at which the misfit dislocation nucleates is in very good agreement with the theoretical critical radius for the formation of the misfit dislocation in full pyramids, showing that the plastic relaxation process does take place within full pyramids: this critical size corresponds to the initial radius of the very first nanowires. We associate the plastic relaxation of the lattice-mismatch-induced strain occurring within full pyramids with a drastic change in their total free energy: this gives rise to a driving force for the shape transition toward the very first nanowires, which is mainly due to the anisotropy of surface energy

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International audienceThe nucleation process of self-induced GaN nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy has been investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction measurements. It is found that stable nuclei in the form of spherical cap-shaped islands develop only after an incubation time that is strongly dependent upon the growth conditions. Its evolution with the growth temperature and gallium rate has been described within standard island nucleation theory, revealing a nucleation energy of 4.9 +/- 0.1 eV and a very small nucleus critical size. The consideration of the incubation time is critical for the control of the nanowire morphology. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3610964