Changes in Contact Angle of Seed Particle Correlated with Increased Zincblende Formation in Doped InP Nanowires.

In English Nanowires grown with the vapor-liquid-solid method commonly exhibit polytypism, showing both zincblende and wurtzite crystal structure. We have grown p-type InP nanowires using DEZn as a dopant precursor and studied the wetting of the seed particle and the nanowire crystal structure. The nanowires grown with high DEZn molar fractions exhibit deformed seed particles after growth. We observe 20% smaller nanowire diameter at the highest DEZn molar fraction, indicating a significant increase in contact angle of the seed particle during growth. The decrease in diameter correlates with an increase in zincblende segment length as measured by TEM. We explain the results with a modified nucleation model.