Desorption induced formation of negative nanowires in GaN

We report in-situ transmission electron microscopy studies of the formation of negative nanowires created by thermal decomposition of single crystal GaN. During annealing, vertical negative nanowires are formed in [0 0 0 1] by preferential dissociation of GaN along the {1 0 1̄ 0} prism planes, while lateral negative nanowires grow in close-packed 〈1 0 1̄ 0〉 by the self-catalytic solid–liquid–vapor (SLV) mechanism. Our quantitative measurements show that the growth rates of the laterally grown negative nanowires are independent of the wire diameter, indicating that the rate-limiting step is the decomposition of GaN on the surface of the Ga droplets that catalyze their creation. These nanoscale features offer controllable templates for the creation and integration of a broad range of nanoscale materials systems, with potential applications in nanoscale fluidics.