Controlled formation of well-aligned GaAs nanowires with a high aspect ratio on transparent substrates

In this study, we present a facile route to fabricate large-scale arrays of GaAs nanowires (NWs) with high aspect ratio on transparent substrates. It is demonstrated that the monolayer of SiO2 nanoparticles can be effectively used as etch masks for the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching process. To form the monolayer of SiO2 nanoparticles on the GaAs substrate, the concentration and temperature of the SiO2 colloidal dispersion solution as well as the interface wetting of the GaAs substrate are investigated. By adjusting the ICP etching conditions, the high-aspect-ratio GaAs NWs with lengths of 4.3μm and cross-sections of 70nm are successfully fabricated. Furthermore, the fabricated GaAs NWs are massively transferred onto the transparent substrate at low temperature. The SEM observation and the X-ray diffraction spectrum reveal that the transferred GaAs NWs have vertically aligned morphology and good crystal property.

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